Craft vendor can’t buy hand sanitiser

Sitting on a bench under a tree in a section of Jones Town, Kingston, called Board Villa, Barrington Beaumont and a few of his brethren were deeply engaged in a conversation about COVID-19.

As his friends spoke about their preparation for the disease that has claimed more than 5,000 lives across the world, Beaumont exhaled deeply before outlining his ordeal.

"Mi can't afford a hand sanitiser right now, so mi a gwan use soap and water and aloe vera. When the virus get drastic, mi a guh draw fi mi garlic and lime, so mi a go back to the basic way of doing things," he said.

A craft vendor, Beaumont told THE STAR that the tourism industry has been feeling the financial pinch.

"The tourism get the biggest 'lick' inna this from as early as December. Mi a feel the impact from dem time deh, suh mi know say something was coming, but I never know it would be this big," he said.

Beaumont said that in addition to supplying several stores, he usually peddle his wares in sections of Half-Way Tree, New Kingston, and other parts of the island. He said that he had a rough Christmas season and it has been downhill since COVID-19 began extending its tentacles across the globe.

"A lot of us sell directly to the tourists, so when they stopped coming our business mash up. Mi honestly a wonder if our economy can withstand this and if we can even rebound after this," he said.

In the meantime, other Board Villa residents, like many in Jamaica, are concerned about the dramatic increases in the prices of disinfecting and cleaning supplies.

One shopkeeper, Miss, said she that a small Lysol was being for $750 up to a few weeks ago, but the price has been doubled.

"Mi had to leave it because mi couldn't come back come sell it back to my people dem," she said.

"It would appear these people don't care about the fellow citizens of the country, because they would either drop the price or let it stand still, because I cannot raise my prices," the shopkeeper said.

Miss Pam, another resident, said the less fortunate will suffer the most.

"Every house holder should be able to afford something to secure themselves but the way tings a gwan, poor people a guh suffer bad. Mi hear the Government say nothing mustn't raise, so mi wah the price inspector dem to go round and catch dem people dem," she said.