SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Chairman of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation Bertram Moore says the Savanna- la-Mar market, which was closed at the 2:00 pm on Saturday for cleaning and sanitising, will reopen at 6:00 am today.

The cleaning at the facility began Sunday. Since Wednesday, markets islandwide, as required by government as part of its efforts to curtail spread of the novel coronavirus, have been operating from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm daily.

Moore told the Jamaica Observer that since the early closure of the markets was implemented, the Savanna-la-Mar market has been washed daily after closing time.

He stressed that when the market reopens today, the early closure will continue until the prime minister announces otherwise.

When the Observer visited the facility about 2:30 on Saturday afternoon some market vendors were still operating while only a few were seen packing up their goods as they prepared to leave the facility. One vendor pointed out that she wanted to abide by the new closing time.

“Mi a guh lose but we just haffi go wid wah dem seh,” the vendor said, as she packed up her belongings consisting mainly of haberdashery items.

Vendors who sell haberdashery items were allowed to leave their wares covered on their stalls as they were told that the sanitation would be concentrated on the market floor and would not affect items on the stalls.

Those who sell food items, however, were required to remove their goods from the market. However, they complained that moving their goods would be an additional expense that they did not budget for, adding that they would also be losing revenue for the days of the closure.

— Rosalee Wood