RESIDENTS in Chocolate Hole, a district near Junction in St Elizabeth, allege that woefully inadequate generators in restaurants, stores, and households are causing individuals to experience food poisoning.

The shocking claim centres on the inability of smaller generators to maintain the required temperatures for meat and frozen foods, rendering them spoiled and hazardous to consume.

“These small generators can’t hold the meat, because a lot of people right now even a get food poisoning. I know of probably about three people who get food poisoning. One say from him eat the ice cream from the shop, him did have to go to the hospital. I know another man who say from him eat the restaurant food, he had to go to the hospital. His body was infected, bare vomiting and all them something there,” said Damian Holness, a farmer in Chocolate Hole.

“I don’t know where they get the meat from, but you know say everybody just have their household and them a run them small generator, but it still can’t keep the meat. The high-tech places like the big supermarkets them can keep it because they have a huge generator can pump and keep the temperature of the fridge up, but you have some shops with other generators that can’t keep it. So that is a problem,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Yet, despite this, Everton Holness, Damian’s brother, and another farmer in the area, said consumers are still charged exorbitant prices for the tainted goods – often twice the usual cost – as store owners seek to gain extra funds.

“Basically, whatever goes on the fridge they are charging you $100 or more because they’re saying that they have to run generators and buy fuel so that you can get a cool drinks or for you to get meat or whatever. It’s basically all of the shops, even all the supermarkets too who we would say they wouldn’t move the prices because they always have a big generator can use, even them,” said Everton.

“But dem generator not good, and them a poison the people,” he said.

However, the cost of food is not the only thing which skyrocketed in the past two weeks. Pointing to the many homes that lost roofs during the passage of the hurricane, Damian said the cost of materials also went up.

“Zinc and board prices, them gone up with that. A generator move from $35,000 gone to $68,000, and if you make about a two-minute walk, probably go in the vehicle for the money, when time you come back again is $70,000,” he said.

Another farmer, Ralph Clarke, from Yardley Chase near Lovers Leap, told the Sunday Observer that he also paid a great deal to repair his generator.

“Up to [last week Wednesday] one thunder ball drop up there and lick off my generator. My generator was left on and the thunder ball drop on the house, and root up, up there. The rock stone fly and lick on my back door and lick off the generator. I had to run with the generator carry it go sort out and pay a heap of money,” he said.

The farmers, already struggling to recover from the loss of crops and livestock due to Hurricane Beryl, say the exorbitant prices further worsen their economic standing and will force them to pass on the costs to customers who will see prices raised on items such as fruits and vegetables as they try to make ends meet.

“Remember, we are going down on the fall, so you’re going to have the crops them not bearing as they should, so we are going to have less produce and they are going to be more expensive. All the greenhouses that used to come in with the tomatoes and all these things, everything flat right now,” Damian explained, adding that they have no choice if they want to survive.