The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Arawak Cay Association’s president yesterday said his member vendors “cannot take our eyes off” COVID-19 despite being allowed to return to near normality by the curfew’s push back to a 12pm start.

Rodney Russell told Tribune Business: “Since the Government gave the country a few extra hours, by extension that gives Arawak Cay a few extra hours to operate. This kind of takes us back to normalcy as we were operating from early in the morning from about 10am until 7pm, so this takes us back to closing up at 12pm.”

Warning that this does not mean Arawak Cay can become slack on its COVID-19 protocols, Mr Russell added: “We still have to follow the protocols from hand sanitising to social distancing and mask wearing, which is good because we have to be reminded that COVID-19 is real and it still is a problem we have despite the extra hours for operation.

“We cannot take our eyes off of that problem even though we have these three extra hours. So that means people will be staying on later, there will be more eating and drinking, and more money will be spent. But we have to always be reminded that COVID-19 is still real.”

Despite the COVID-19 concerns, Mr Russell predicted that more Arawak Cay vendors’ employees will be able to come to work as a result of the additional hours of operation, while other businesses that support the Fish Fry will also see the benefits.

“The economy will begin to pick up for the simple reason that the fishermen and the farmers market vendors can sell more of their products. So you will find more fishermen going out again, knowing that we have a few more hours to sell product,” Mr Russell said.

“We will be buying more products, more beverages and even more ice now, and using more cooking gas. It’s a domino effect, so now you should expect the economy to turn around at Arawak Cay for the persons who Arawak Cay purchases their goods from.”

Mr Russell is planning a meeting with his association in the near future to address COVID-19 protocols and prepare for full hours of operation. “I’m preaching to them the fact that we are coming out of this pandemic, but we still need to protect our staff and protect our customers, and we still need to protect ourselves and our families,” he said.

“While it may be alright to make an extra dollar, we have to be minded that this pandemic is still real and we still have persons who believe they should be able to fraternize and interact with others ,and refuse to be vaccinated. We have to look out for persons like that..”