Businessmen in favour of keeping COVID-19 restrictions but want weekend curfew adjusted

 

Businessman John Mahfood is in support of the Government maintaining COVID-19 restrictions until more Jamaicans are fully vaccinated.

 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness is expected to provide an update on the measures in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.

 

Mr. Mahfood says the curfew on Saturdays should be moved from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. to avoid congestion but the 8:00 p.m. curfew on weekdays should remain. 

 

"Recently the police have shown that they're more serious about clamping down on people who ignore the restrictions. So I believe that Jamaica is better served maintaining the controls that are in place," he suggested. 

 

Mr. Mahfood said he understands that the restrictions have resulted in severe financial hardships for many Jamaicans. However, there will be a lasting negative effect if there is another surge in cases of the virus. 

 

"Trying to open up the tourism industry, looking forward to seeing a couple million tourists come in here, the only way we're going to see that happen is if tourists feel safe. So the issue is, can we maintain that level of restriction to enjoy the tourism industry which itself will help the economy of Jamaica later on?" he asserted Tuesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106.

 

  

                                                                                      

Donovan Wignal, President of the Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (MSME) Alliance, has also suggested that the curfew hours, especially on Saturday, be adjusted to allow for more commerce.

 

"There are people who do most of their trade, most of their business on a Saturday, so therefore, you extend the hours on a Saturday to allow for those businesses to do probably another four or three hours of trade," he recommended. 

 

He pointed out that many businesses including craft market vendors have had to close their stalls because of a lack of sales exacerbated by early the early weekend curfew.  

 

Mr. Wignal, who was also a guest on the Morning Agenda, argued that minor changes to the restrictions will not be detrimental.

 

"The CMO [Chief Medical Officer] said that we need a five per cent positivity rate over a period of time and that's the target and I think we are well on the way to achieving that. Improving the testing to get the numbers right is always good, but let us look at how within the protocols, within the measures, we can tweak a bit to allow a little bit more trading for the people that are most affect," he said.