No food 'explosion' in north Trinidad

 - ANGELO_MARCELLE
- ANGELO_MARCELLE

SLIGHT, not heavy, characterised the reopening of fast food outlets on Monday after weeks of closure to stem the covid19 pandemic. The subdued reality defied expectations of long lines of eager buyers snaking along the pavement to buy the much loved items such as chicken and chips and doubles.

KFC at Independence Square, Port of Spain looked primed for business, with all hands on deck.

Surprisingly there was no queue outside and one had to peer carefully through the window to make out anyone inside, owing to the ban on any customers congregating inside. Where were the hungry hordes with their pent-up cravings?

We pushed open the glass door only to be properly cautioned by the security guard to wait until allowed in.

With one customer having paid and collected her order and now leaving the outlet, we were allowed in a few seconds later. The masked guard sprayed our hands with sanitiser/rubbing alcohol. We proceeded to the youthful cashier, clad in a white mask. like her colleagues. She took our order and swiped our ATM card and handed us our meal, all quite promptly. We saw a plexiglass screen newly installed along the length of the front counter at speaking level, but with a gap underneath to allow transactions. It looked effective without instilling in the customer any feeling of alienation. The screen simply looked as if it belonged.

We saw a young man vigorously wiping down the counter as we recalled Prestige Holdings' promise to sanitise the most commonly used surfaces every half-hour.

Another young man handed us condiments, bag and fork to take away our meal.

The one to three women running a pie stand at City Gate, whose business boomed while other outlets were shut, still offered their $11 pies for sale.

Doubles vendors were sparse in Port of Spain (and none were yet spotted at the usual Sauce Doubles hub at Curepe Junction at 10 am where usually at least one would be out by this time, in the spot originally occupied by Ken's Double, since relocated further down the Southern Main Road.) A male doubles/pie vendor was spotted at South Quay, plus a female vendor midway along Frederick Street. She did not indicate any rise in the price of her $5 doubles unlike weekend news reports from other vendors, but simply said how good it was to be back out.

Among the better known names in Port of Spain, no one was vending at Ali's Doubles on Henry Street, nor Sally's Doubles at Broadway, despite her staff having been seen hosing down the spot on Sunday.

The female doubles vendor who usually works inside City Gate was absent, as were the two middle-aged men clad in white shirts and caps who usually sell together on Broadway just south of Sally's.

We saw no one selling at Independence Square, where several vendors usually sell, but more often on afternoons (such as Panks) but sometimes earlier on. Elsewhere there were reports of a doubles vendor reopening at Caura Junction, and many doubles vendors in Arima.

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"No food ‘explosion’ in north Trinidad"

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