No rush to reopen Culture Yard

Culture Yard in Trench Town, St Andrew, has been a hotspot for tourists who want a taste of reggae music and Bob Marley's legacy. Tourists travel in groups from various countries for tours, and accommodations are also offered to those travellers who are interested in booking rooms and vacationing in the community.

Culture Yard has been a major player in Trench Town's community development, as more than 95 per cent of the employees are residents of the community.

But since the spread of COVID-19, the business has been shut down, plummeting the majority of the community into unemployment.

"It (the virus) affects the business a whole lot, because we have to close down and most of the persons working at Culture Yard, they are from Trench Town. At the moment, they don't have a job ... they don't have anything doing. Without an income, they don't have anything. Even me ... I'm out of a job and have to be staying home. We don't have any other income coming in," Donnette Dowe, chief tour guide, told THE STAR.

Community-feeding business

Culture Yard has recorded visits from mainland Europe, the UK, Kenya and the US. Dowe says the community-feeding business has been out of operation even before the Jamaican borders were closed.

"We had the last tour of about 30 people. We did it in our masks and everything, and did everything that we were supposed to do to be safe. It was a little bit before the borders closed. This was some time before March 10, and that was it. That was the last tour we had. Three persons came the other day and that's when I closed down, because I was scared for my life," she said.

From as early as January, tourists had booked rooms at Culture Yard in anticipation of Reggae Sunfest, which was scheduled for July. Dowe says many reservations or bookings have to be cancelled.

"Before the borders closed, we had cruise ships that were supposed to come in with tourists, and we had a couple of tour companies who we were talking with," she said.

Despite the halt that has been put on the earning of many community members, there is absolutely no rush in reopening the tourist hotspot.

"We are not in any rush to receive any tourists, either, because it's better to be hungry than to die. I don't think the borders should be opened any time soon, either, for any tourists to come here, because the coronavirus is still killing people in other countries. I rather to be alive and not working than to die," she said.