Two restaurant sports bar locations owned by Windies T20 star Andre Russell have been ordered to close immediately for operating in contravention of the Disaster Risk Management Act and not having the proper licensing in place.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie confirmed that both the St Catherine and 12 Dunrobin Avenue locations of Russell's T20 Restaurant and Sports Bar were issued with orders to immediately close on Wednesday.

Night clubs across the island were ordered closed in March, in a bid to arrest the spread of the Covid-19 virus.  According to McKenzie, however, some of the locations across the island have been operating as restaurants in an apparent bid to circumvent the regulations.  In addition to that, however, McKenzie also claimed some of the establishments were not licensed to operate in the manner in which they were.

“There are two locations that we have decided to take actions against, immediate actions.  They are facilities that are owned by a prominent sports individual,” Mckenzie told Nationwide Radio.

“I’m talking about Russell’s T20, the one on Dunrobin and the one in Old Harbour.  The KSMEC and the St Catherine Municipal have never received an application for an amusement license or permit for the operations of these facilities."

Russell opened the Old Harbour branch of the restaurant in 2017, the Kingston location was opened earlier this month.