Business Hours In St. Andrew South Division SOE To Be Extended

The Government will be extending the hours during which businesses can operate under the State of Public Emergency (SOE) in the St. Andrew South Police Division.

“The business hours were extended for Clarendon and St. Catherine, and I am now indicating that it is our intention to extend the business hours for the St. Andrew South State of Public Emergency,” said Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.

“We will, hopefully, by the end of this week… have the gazette published with the extended hours, and we are going to seek to make it similar to what exists in St. Catherine and Clarendon,” he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 15) on the resolution to extend the SOE in the parishes of Clarendon and St. Catherine.

South West St. Andrew Member of Parliament, Dr. Angela Brown Burke, thanked the Prime Minister for the extension of the business hours. “We have been longing for it and we thank you,” she said.

The current business hours in Clarendon and St. Catherine are in respect of clubs and fast-food restaurants, from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; establishments required by law to operate under a tavern licence – 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; petroleum filling stations – 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; supermarkets and grocery shops/haberdasheries – 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; pharmacies – 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; churches – 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; and other public places – 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister said that a meeting is scheduled with the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Peter Phillips, for Thursday (October 17), to discuss a national consensus on the crime-fighting plan, among other things.

He said that during the previous debate on the extension of the SOE in Clarendon and St. Catherine, the matter was raised that “there should be a national attempt on census on a crime-fighting strategy”.

“I am pleased to report that there is progress in that regard. The Leader of the Opposition and myself, facilitated by the civil society group, has started work in this regard.

“On Thursday, there should be a stakeholder meeting, which will address concerns, deliberate seriously the issues we face, and seek to create an uncontested political space in which there can be a national consensus on the crime-fighting plan. I think that is a positive step – a step in the right direction,” he said.