MANCHESTER, Jamaica— Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett says tourism entities that fail to comply with the reopening health and safety protocols will be shut down.

“If you are not COVID compliant we are going to shut you down whether you’re big or you’re small, because we cannot compromise on health security,” the minister said.

Bartlett made the announcement during a tour of the newly opened South Coast resilient corridor this weekend.

The corridor was opened on July 15. Similar to the North Coast resilient corridor, the minister said this area will welcome visitors with robust health and safety protocols.

“The start of the South Coast phase of the reopening is very important to us… this is a really popular region for Jamaicans and some international visitors, because this is country style tourism,” he said.

Bartlett said a team comprising government personnel and private sector stakeholders is in place to monitor and ensure compliance.

“So the message to the South Coast is that this corridor is going to be managed as tight, if not tighter, as we are trying to manage the northern corridor and breaches within this corridor are going to be met with very strong action,” he said.

“I’m not going to mince words on it; the instruction from me is to shut them down if they don’t comply. This is not just a South Coast edict, this is a Jamaica edict, it’s for every tourism facility that is operating in Jamaica,” he added.

“So if you are a little man and you’re not compliant, if you’re a medium sized man and you’re not compliant, if you’re a big man and you’re not compliant, any man you are and you are not compliant, you’re going to be treated the same,” the tourism minister said.

Bartlett said that Jamaica has to be strong in its resolve “because we recognise that we’re operating in a global community that is still not compliant fully” with the spread of the virus being seen in Jamaica’s source markets “in a manner that is frightening to some of us.”