Old Harbour businesses react to latest lockdown measures

Responding to the new measures which will see commercial activities and freedom of movement severely restricted over the next three upcoming weekends, business owners say they are trying to come up with an effective solution to stay afloat.

Chantal Pryce is the owner and director of Netcom Computer Solutions, a micro enterprise in existence for more than a decade. Apart from selling computer devices, they offer a wide range of printing services.

She tells Old Harbour News: “It’s really, really hard for me now to figure out how I’m going to do this, because weekends is the time that persons (customers) come in and it’s my biggest time where people come in to shop.”

Everybody will have to adjust as a result of the new measures, she added, pointing to the fact that she will need to amend her staff roster to facilitate workers who live afar.

Cleyon Ranger, who the owner of a few pubs here in Old Harbour, said while he understands the Prime Minister’s position, businesses seem to be sector most hard it.

“As employers you still have to be thinking about the people who work for you. It’s like you have to be making more sacrifice to stay in business than anything else regarding this development,” said Ranger. “Honestly I think he had to do something because people are being disobedient. But I don’t think the business people must suffer. He must put more stringent measures other than lockdown. Lockdown only stop business people and I’m not sure if lockdown will bring down the numbers.”

At a virtual press briefing yesterday, Holness announced a raft of tighter Covid control measures to slow the spread the virus that has infected over 35,000 and attributed to the death of 533 persons nationwide. Since March 8, 2021, Jamaica has been averaging more than 400 positive covid-19 cases daily and over 600 in the last 11 days. The recent increase in cases, which ironically coincides with the arrival of just over 60,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the Government of India and the COVAX facility, is the main reason behind the Holness administration imposing tighter lockdown rules.

Under the new guidelines announced, starting Thursday, March 23 to Friday, March 26, the nightly curfew hours will remain at 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the following morning, ending at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 27, 2021.

On Saturday, March 27, 2021, the curfew will begin at 12 noon and continue through the rest of Saturday and the entire day on Sunday and end at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, March 29.

From Monday, March 29, 2021 to Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the curfew will commence at 8:00 p.m. nightly to 5:00 a.m. the following morning, ending at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 1.

The curfew will start at 8 p.m. on Thursday, continue throughout the entire day on Good Friday and end on the following Saturday at 5:00 a.m.

On Saturday, April 3, the curfew will begin at noon and continue through the rest of Saturday, the entire Easter Sunday and the entire Easter Monday, and it will end at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

The curfew will then commence at 8:00 p.m. on the days after, ending 5:00 a.m. the following day.

Due to the pandemic businesses are being encouraged to shift their operations to function in a virtual space, a scenario Pryce is “seriously” contemplating.

“I have to get Netcom online and set up a delivery and payment service,” she told Old Harbour News, as she is already in talks with a major bank to achieve this.

Meantime, Pryce believes the transportation sector is the single largest contributor to the rapid rise in covid-19 cases. Without citing any data, Pryce relied on her daily observation on how people are transported by operators in the sector.

“I think the major problem is transport,” she said. “Come (this) Friday it is going to be terrible on the streets… I adjust anticipate a mayhem right now.”

Under the Disaster Risk Management Act, public passenger vehicles (PPV) such as route taxi operators are mandated to carry one less person than usual, while buses are prohibited from carrying persons standing in the aisle.

"Right now I’m in Kingston and when you look in some taxis you have six people in one car. When you look at the bus you have sitting and standing passengers,” she said via telephone. “Who regulates that? I think that’s where most of the problem is.”