Published 22 March, 2021
Basseterre
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Source: LOOP NEWS
Some businesses, including restaurants and delivery operators, are to be able to function after the curfew hours until midnight through the new E-commerce National Delivery System (ENDS).
Limited testing of the service has started, and there is a plan to launch it as a pilot in Portmore by Friday, March 26, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Speaking at a virtual coronavirus (COVID-19) press conference on Sunday, Holness indicated that the system was developed through a joint effort between a Cabinet sub-committee and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), to allow the quick serve industry to continue for longer hours within the curfew.
“I want to emphasise that the system will be fully inclusive and enable the smallest vendors, like your favourite pan chicken vendors and fried fish vendors, to participate,” he pointed out.
However, Holness warned that the system will not be a “free-for-all”, further emphasising that it will be gradually implemented.
“As I said it will be tested in Portmore, a community that is relatively structured and organised with many businesses and households in close proximity… so that delivery would be easy.
“We are expecting that all the persons who enrol will follow the rules. Businesses will not be opened to the public, so businesses that are going to produce the food for which the delivery will take place are not to be opened,” he explained.
Further, special provisions are to be made for the staff of those businesses that are registered under the E-commerce delivery system.
“The delivery can only take place if the driver is certified on the system and is able to show their digital passport… for which the police can verify,” added Holness.
