AS of Monday, men and women wearing vests, torn jeans or slippers will all now be deemed to be properly dressed to be allowed entry into most government buildings, Minister of Public Administration Allyson West said on Friday.
No entry will be allowed to those sporting swimwear, sheer fabric or obscene prints, or who are bareback. Gang symbols are also out, West said.
She was addressing a briefing at the Old Fire Station on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, to launch a new dress code for visitors to public offices.
West hoped to bring clarity, a more relaxed outlook, and a consensual approach between the authorities and the general public.
Shorts are okay, once at least mid-thigh in length, she said. Religious facial coverings are allowed, but security guards will check the wearer's face in a private area.
She said past practice had been "archaic and rigid." West said the Ministry of Education would maintain its own dress code policy for visitors to schools.
Further, the new code is subject to rules set by those government offices which specifically deal with head shots of individuals, such as the Immigration Division, Licensing Office and Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
West explained at length why the new code was developed, saying the issue has had "a chequered history."
"Traditionally there has been no uniform policy in respect of the dress code for members of the public seeing services out of government offices," she said, "but there have been traditional approaches - based on historical norms - that we have been grappling with.
"As a result of that quite a few members of the public have been refused entry into government offices and refused service because they have been 'seen' to be inappropriately dressed." She said in the past the lack of a formal policy on dress code had confused members of the public as to which offices they could enter in various types of attire.
"So they may be able to get into one office dressed in a particular way but not another office.
"So because of a lack of certainty, there were difficulties receiving services and because the Public Service is about addressing the public, we thought we needed to address that issue." West recalled several notable examples of individuals refused service in government offices due to the old dress code.
"We had the lady who turned up in an office without sleeves and was turned away and went and draped a curtain over her.
"We are aware of the gentleman who went to another office in shorts, was turned away, and went and stapled brown envelopes to his pants and was allowed in.
"So all these ridiculous things occurred because of the absence of a reasonable policy."
She said her ministry had looked at the situation, examining norms and trends, to prepare a report which Cabinet approved last December.
Since then her ministry had trained front line staff in the policy, to minimise people's difficulty in getting access to government services.
"We have asked each ministry, division and agency to identity c
