Senior Multimedia Reporter
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
Hesitancy created by the police’s eagerness to crack down on congregating in Maloney has led to a sales headache for small business owners.
The area was declared a closed area by the T&T Police Service on Tuesday night, and the impact has been immediate.
In addition to having to close at 9 pm, shop owners in the area said customers have been reluctant to come out to make purchases and the police are also swarming on any visible gatherings in public.
“People afraid to come out because the police and them harassing them when they outside. They’re sending them back in, and the most sales I get is from the buildings. I’m here 40 years and I never get problems like that before,” said Claire, a 76-year-old mini mart owner.
The shop owner said suppliers were also now showing hesitancy when making deliveries to her Ponderosa Heights store.
“The cake man. He come this morning and he moving fast. I tell him, I say, hold up now, hold up. I can’t move so fast with you,” she said.
“The bread van too. Well, the bread man wasn’t as fast. They take the time but certain vans, they want to move very fast, very fast because they getting a lot of questions (from police). They have a lot of question asking before they come in.”
She said the situation had been exacerbated by the fact that the curfew made it practically impossible to attend her church, which has service in Arima from 8 pm to 10 pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The observation that customers were unwilling to make a walk to the neighbourhood shop was shared by a shop tender named Sparkle at another mini mart on Flamingo Boulevard.
“The first night we had a rush, and then it just stopped because, um, not that it stopped, you know it didn’t stop, but sometimes the police passing. They don’t want anybody liming outside,” said Sparkle
However, she said the community just had to make the best of the situation, although she said she hoped things would normalise sooner rather than later.
The curfew has also created a headache for Maloney residents who operate businesses outside the community, particularly those who sell food at night at food parks. One resident explained that a relative had to put his food business, which was created to generate a supplemental income, on pause, due to the restrictions imposed in the area. The resident explained that there were many who faced this challenge, as several operated informal or unregistered businesses who did not know if they could apply for or receive permits.
