And, as you saw in that story, the police kept their distance and simply re-directed traffic as the teachers blocked all the major highways and bridges. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told us there are specific directives not to antagonise the teachers or escalate their acts of protest - even if it is illegal:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Across the country we were alert, we conduct our highway patrols from four a.m. this morning, as a matter of fact, we were able to detain four teachers in the Benque area who were seen putting tires on the highway and were about to lit it fire and the police caught them and they have been arrested and charged and they'll be going to court for that. But again we try as best as we can to be hands-off or to exercise restraint so as not to have any confrontation with the teachers that may result in any civil disobedience. I don't think that our country needs any civil disobedience now as that could further add to our economic constraint that we are currently faced with and so we will continue to see how we can tip toe or exercise restraint with these demonstrations. I will say that it is rather frustrating because at the end of the day whatever it is that they are doing with these road blockages it is creating significant inconvenience to the broader public, people who have to get to work by a certain time people who need to go to the airport, people who need to go to the hospital, so it is causing inconvenience to people and the citizenry is getting frustrated with it as well and so I would hope that the teachers are going to rethink this position. It is counterproductive and it is getting people frustrated and eventually, we will have to not be too hands-off and do what needs to be done to ensure that the highways are clear. May I also remind the teachers that blocking the highway is an offense. It is obstructing the free flow of traffic and while yes we have been very patient and we have exercised restraint when the public gets too frustrated then we will have to ensure that something is done to allow traffic to flow and get people to where they need to get within a reasonable time."
