‘Enjoy Good Friday In Keeping With Regulations’
[Updated] “Fly your kite in your own yard and enjoy the day at home in keeping with the regulations that govern our shelter in place at this time,” Minister of National Security Wayne Caines said, adding that “any kite that gets lost or goes down, must be abandoned.”
The Minister’s comments come as the island prepares to celebrate Good Friday under a Shelter in Place order, with the strict policies in place to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which sadly has already claimed over 80,000 lives worldwide, and three here at home.
An aerial look at kite flying last year:
Speaking at last night’s press briefing, Minister Caines said, “Lastly, we know the cultural significance of the upcoming Good Friday holiday. Kite flying is considered one of the cornerstones of our heritage.
“But while the breeze may be perfect for pitching kites and seeing colourful hummers on full display in our skies is a heartening sight, even this tradition must be tempered by the reality of our current global situation.
“We simply cannot do what we instinctively want to do at this time of year. Fly your kite in your own yard and enjoy the day at home in keeping with the regulations that govern our shelter in place at this time. Any kite that gets lost or goes down, must be abandoned. This is not optional.”
“On Easter Sunday, churches will still be closed. However, we expect and encourage our religious and faith based entities to continue to provide their Sabbath and Sunday services and observations via online and broadcast mediums,” the Minister also added.
Of course, if you decide to fly a kite, your house has to be positioned in a suitable location — which many will not be — as BELCO always advises that ”kite flying should be done away from power lines in the interest of safety and to avoid creating power outages,” and, to state the obvious, with mostly everyone at home now it would be vastly inconvenient for your neighborhood if you create a power outage.
Update 12.55pm: A BELCO spokesperson said, “Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited [BELCO] today issued a reminder to the public about safe kite flying during the Good Friday holiday.
“As we spend this Good Friday holiday flying our kites while we are sheltering in place and following the regulations implemented by the Bermuda Government, we must remember that kite flying safety is paramount.
“BELCO reiterates the following safety guidelines for kite flying:
- “Always use the correct supplies when making a kite. Do not use any wire or metal.
- “Keep kites away from power lines and busy roads.
- “Only fly kites in safe, open places away from any power lines. This year Government Emergency Regulations have prohibited flying kites from beaches, fields, and playgrounds.
- “If your yard isn’t big enough or is close to power lines, please don’t attempt to fly a kite so as to not cause unnecessary outages during this challenging time for Bermuda.
- “If your kite gets caught in power lines, don’t tug on the tail or pull the string. Call BELCO at 955 and then dial “0″ to speak with the operator.
- “For further guidance on kite flying safety visit belco.bm.
A spokesman said: “It’s important that we try and carry on with life as normal during the shelter in place and restrictions on travel. Many Bermuda residents look forward to flying their kites during the Easter holiday and we hope some are able to do so safely on their own property. On behalf of BELCO and the Ascendant Group of Companies, we wish everyone a happy Easter Holiday and ask that safety always come first.”
As the island and world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are doing our best to provide timely and accurate information, and you can find more information on the links below.
- Live: Our continuously updated live blog here
- All: Our coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic here
- Official: The Bermuda Government website here
- World Stats: Live graph of all cases worldwide here
- Bermuda Stats: Chart of the Bermuda stats here
- Timeline: Visual look at the timeline here
- Comprehensive: Our new Covid-19 website here
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How many people have yards that you can actually fly a kite in? Basically rich people can fly kites this year in their big yards with all the space.
Why don’t you make a few other false implications while you’re at it ?
-richguy
You also missed the opportunity to assume that I was a foreigner .. lol
Who cares? Its a piece of plastic on a string.
Just stay the heck home.
We’ve tested noone and we have 48 cases and 4 deaths, its not good and it’s definitely not about rich or poor and kites.
I have no yard and no one to pitch it for me due to social distancing and lockdown well done for ruining this bda holiday. This is classism at work. Caine’s go fly ya kite, while the rest of us in our one bedroom apts suffer doing nothing…
There’s a frikin pandemic. Selfish immature a hole.
So what would your solution be? Let everyone go the parks or have gatherings again for the one day? Nonsense, would completely reverse the whole point of being on lockdown.
So flying a F@#%ing kite is more important then de well being of your life or others.
Go on youtube and type in kite flying, you will be entertained all day.
People use common sense and be safe.
And to de Minister, by telling everyone fly a kite in your own yard is not good cause most of our dwellings are surrounded by powerlines, so multiple downed kites will cause power outage.
If you’re at home in your apartment, you ARE doing something. You’re helping keep people alive. By staying home and social distancing you are helping to stop the spread of this disease, which lowers the burden on our hospital and lowers the chance that at risk people like me will catch it.
So thank you for staying at home doing nothing. You are my hero for doing that.
I guess your to old to get up on your roof to pitch your kite, like the old days.
Guess your better of playing marbles. Or your better at spinning. Tops
Don’t forget the true meaning of Easter, giving thanks.
Disappointing I know. But we all need to sacrifice. If not being able to fly a kite is your biggest challenge you are doing ok….lots of people out there are in their homes alone and can’t visit or spend time with their families over the holiday, so count your blessings…and please EVERYONE don’t be selfish by flying a dang kits and risk taking everyone’s power out please….