Westmoreland bar operators appeal for limited opening hours
Published:Monday | April 27, 2020 | 12:08 AM
ARGUING THAT despite their closure they still have to pay recurring bills, bar operators in Westmoreland are pleading to the Government to lift the closing orders placed on their business.
As a part of state measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ordered all bars, nightclubs and entertainment venues to close, effective March 18.
“It has a very negative effect on all of us. When you close a person’s business for so long, can you imagine the effect it has? Not only financial effect, but it have a mental and social effect on you. Right now, we are making no money and we have to be paying rent, we have to be paying light [bill] just the same. Even though the business is closed, we still have things plugged in so we still have to be paying [for the electricity].
“For me personally, I am saying the playing field is not level at all. The average Jamaican, we are being penalised and marginalised by the Government, I don’t care what colour. The big businesses are able to operate, so we are at an extreme disadvantage. The supermarkets are selling liquor,” Joy Gordon, a bar operator in Sheffield, shared.
Speaking during a special digital COVID-19 town hall meeting last month, Holness disclosed that the Government is working on a way to assist bar operators, noting that the issue was again discussed as the administration announced its stimulus package for those impacted by the virus.
Under the COVID-19 general grants of The COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees Programme (CARE), bar and nightclub operators who are registered with a municipal authority by April 30, 2020, could apply for a one-time amount of $40,000.
NOT ENOUGH
However, Gordon said based on her losses due to expired products and her bills, while she is grateful for help by the Government, she knows it will not be enough.
“Bars have been closed since last month, and I would think the Government would be sensitive to our business. The prime minister said he doesn’t drink, and I know if he got a flu he would drink some white rum, because there is nothing wrong with rum or anything sold in the bar. It seems to me like he was discriminating when he made that statement, and I would say it’s because he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t have any compassion or sensitivity towards us,” Gordon said.
Further, she argued that hairdressers and barbers were given leeway to stay open within restrictions and that bar operators should have been given the same privilege.
Ernell Smith, the proprietor for a nightclub in Burnt Savannah in the parish, said he also feels he was given the short end of the stick.
According to him, he has been losing revenue since the state of public emergency (SOE) was imposed in the parish last April.
“From the SOE, my revenue go down by about 50 per cent. I operate a club that runs until about 4 a.m. on the weekend, and in the week 2 a.m.; and in the SOE, them cut off at 12 a.m. for weekend and in the week, and persons don’t come out that early. Now, it’s nothing. I have three fridges still, so light have to pay, rent have to pay, this is what’s affecting me right now,” Smith said.
Additionally, he said his other concern is that due to the newly imposed hours of curfew, he is fearful that criminals will break into his establishment.
“From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day, if someone is going to break in, they have a lot of time, and because it’s curfew, nobody is not going to be outside to see,” Smith said.
“Normally I would close like 4 a.m. and by 7 a.m. light bright, so people don’t have much time to break into places. I have to come up here like every other day to come and check,” Smith added.