Vendors at the Boston Jerk Centre in Portland are upbeat since the reopening of the well known food area, saying business is steadily progressing again following a nearly two-month closure of operations at the spot due to sanitation problems.

The Boston Jerk Centre, which is popularly known for its jerked products – especially pork and chicken – was shut down by the Ministry of Health in January of this year after a visit by public health officials found several major hygiene problems.

One of the major concerns was meat being slaughtered and prepared for human consumption without being inspected and approved by a public health inspector. Yet another concern was the collapsed pit at the front of the jerk centre.

Vendors who operate different jerk stalls within the centre were subsequently asked to shut down operations until the problems were properly addressed.

“We hear say it a close, for what reason we didn’t know – just a find now what the reason was about. It’s a good reason, so basically we nuh have nuh problem with it. The people dem understand more how fi conduct themselves properly and mek the thing run right,” responded jerk man at the Goldteeth Jerk Centre, Oneil Goldburn, when asked what he thought about the food spot’s closure.

Goldburn added that there were no problems since the reopening as “it’s running the right way” and that patrons were starting to come back at the normal rate before the closure.

In the case of Kemar Burke, who is the owner of Mickey’s Jerk Centre, while the closure affected his business, it was a necessary and warranted move.

“It affected me bad enuh , really bad, but it had to be done. I don’t think we could a gwaan operate how we were before; the septic tank have to be there because; we have to do the killing, so we needed it,” Burke stated.

He explained that he used the time to do repairs on his establishment, such as tiling and flooring works. Burke admitted that the vendors were told that they needed to get a septic tank following the collapse of the pit, but as this was not done quickly enough, they were forcefully closed.

The proprietor said that people were coming back, but not as fast as one would expect. But for Carven “Little David” Anderson, business was busy as usual.

“Things a gwaan man, the people dem coming and buying things. Everything proper again. people a come through a spend dem dollars same way, business a come man,” Anderson stated with confidence.

The owner of Little David’s Jerk Shop stated that he too did some work on his jerk centre during the closure, which included repainting, properly enclosing the openings on the centre, and the erection of a fence.

When asked how he had managed without his income from the jerk centre, he replied saying he had a “little put down” which he had to depend on.

“If yu a work and naa save, it nuh mek sense enuh, because from nothing naa gwaan, you haffi have something put down-that a di real deal. Yuh cyaah a depend on one way, yuh nuh will suffer man,” Anderson said.