Reggae Mill ordered closed, other shops at Devon House to remain open

Following his announcement of the closure of Devon House effective today, Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie has disclosed that only the Reggae Mill, the business tenant at the centre of the violation of COVID-19 protocols, will remain closed.

In addition to announcing the closure yesterday,  a meeting was held today with the management of Devon House.

Following that meeting, the decision was that the remaining 25 shops that operate out of Devon House would not be penalized for the offence committed at the Reggae Mill venue.

Accordingly, the other businesses will remain open, but the Reggae Mill is now closed for breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Order.

The Reggae Mill has been ordered closed for two weeks, additionally no Place of Amusement licence will be granted for the next four to six weeks.

According to Minister McKenzie, the operations of Devon House will be closely monitored to see to it that the management of the entity takes all necessary steps to ensure that there are no further breaches of the protocols.

"As I indicated yesterday, the police have been provided with a list of venues operating in breach of the Disaster Risk Management Order, and they are being investigated with a view to prosecution," noted Minister Desmond McKenzie.

Mr. McKenzie has appealed to business operators to obey all the COVID-19 protocols.

"We are in the middle of a pandemic, and the Government is resolute that no violations of the public health protocols will be tolerated. Once again, I must say how encouraged I am by the civic-minded Jamaicans who are reporting the violators, and we will deal with the breaches as they are disclosed to us,” emphasised the Minister. 

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