Large and small operators in the tourism sector are appealing to the Government to avoid another lockdown of the nation’s borders, arguing that any such measure would have a disastrously damaging effect on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans and the economy in general.

“Let us not be tempted or be swayed into closing the borders down again. That would be suicidal for many of us, especially craft traders and our families,” president of the Ocho Rios Craft Markets Association, Devon Mitchell, is quoted in a news release issued last Thursday.

According to Mitchell, the past six months — especially during the period when the country’s borders were closed to international travel — brought craft traders to “the brink of extinction”.

“We have never been this hard hit. To be honest with you, we are not prepared emotionally, mentally and financially to go through anything like that again… at least not any time soon,” said a passionate Mitchell, who is also president of the Dunn’s River Craft Association.

“Like everybody else we have undergone the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) training at great cost and time to our members. We have put all the health protocols and safety guidelines in place so we can safely and peacefully operate within the resilient corridor. We are imploring the next Government to be confident in the system and allow the protocols to work,” Mitchell said.

Three Tourism Resilient Corridors were created ahead of the reopening of the island’s borders to international passengers in order to ensure the safety of Jamaicans and visitors. In the three corridors on the northern and southern coasts, and New Kingston, tourism businesses must be certified by TPDCo for having implemented all the COVID-19 prevention protocols. The businesses are also subject to surveillance and enforcement to ensure compliance.

Operators in the corridors have repeatedly insisted that the system is working, as there have been no incidents of COVID-19 infection among workers employed to hotels, attractions, visitor transportation companies, craft markets, tourist shopping centres and other entities.

The recent spike in COVID-19 cases has largely been blamed on Jamaicans who, on their arrival in the island — either for short visits or to return home — have been flouting the 14-day quarantine protocol.

At the Fishing Village in Ocho Rios, where restaurateurs rely heavily on tourism for survival, the cries are even louder for the authorities not to close down the borders again, but rather to place more emphasis on enforcing the laws and impose even harsher penalties on those who continue to breach health and safety guidelines.

“Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has been telling us — literally urging countries — not to reimpose national lockdowns in an attempt to bring COVID-19 under control, and if I am quoting correctly, not even due to social and economic repercussions,” said Marcus King, a long-time and popular restaurant owner at the facility.

King, whose speciality is turned cornmeal with steamed doctor fish, said the absence of the cruise ships and the “slow trickle” of guests from the hotels have been very tough on business owners, many of whom have been hard pressed to pay rent and maintenance at the fishing village.

“We are more looking forward to the return of the cruise ships and an increase in stopover arrivals as opposed to any talk of a re-closing of the borders,” King said. “If you want to get people around here upset, just start talking about closing down airports to keep the tourists out.”

King’s WHO reference was to advice offered some months ago by the organisation’s infectious disease epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove that countries adopt localised strategies as opposed to resorting to national lockdowns.

“Lockdowns are not something that WHO recommended, but they needed to be used in a number of countries because the outbreaks were growing so quickly,” Dr Van Kerkhove said. “But we’re hopeful countries will not need national lockdowns again.”

She urged countries to use the tools available to adopt a “tailored, specific, localised approach to contain new clusters of infections”.

“In the next six months we will not have a vaccine,” she added. “I know there’s a lot of work that’s being accelerated in terms of having a safe vaccine, but we cannot wait until [2021] for one to come around.”

Joining the plea not to close the borders, Jamaica Co-operative Automobile and Limousine Tours Limited (JCAL) President Brian Thelwell said, “We are hoping that this is not being contemplated as an after-election move. This would undoubtedly be a massive blow, not only to tourism but also the country’s economy on a whole. We at JCAL have never been known for excesses and we are not about to start now. What I can tell you, however, is that any decision to close down the borders would cause a lot of hurt, a lot of pain, and a lot of damaged households right across the length and breadth of this country.”

Garfield Dussard, from Garfield’s Diving, who has franchises in Ocho Rios, Falmouth, Montego Bay and Negril, agreed that another border closing could spell the death knell for tourism “at least the way we knew it”.

“I trust we will do the right thing and allow the protocols to work,” he added.

More than 350,000 Jamaicans directly make a living from tourism-related businesses, and thousands of families and communities benefit indirectly from the industry which started losing US$14 million a day after the shutdown in March.