Derek Chin sad about new restrictions

MOVIETOWNE owner Derek Chin is sad that he's going to have to send most of his staff home.

Newsday spoke to Chin after the Prime Minister announced at a 2.30pm press conference on Thursday that places such as malls, restaurants, bars, casinos, cinemas and gyms would be closed until May 23.

Chin said, "We've been in dire straits. We expected this to happen because of the spike.

But he said, "I don't know if these measures are going to work."

He said it made no sense that malls and restaurants had to close when places like grocery stores and wholesale distributors were still being allowed to open. He said those are areas with high traffic, where people would cluster.

MovieTowne, Invaders Bay, includes a cinema, restaurants, and shopping area, which makes it a mall.

Chin said in the last lockdown the company lost millions of dollars as both a business and a landlord.

"When you close a mall, you close revenue to the owner. There is a domino effect. Many of our tenants had to pack up.

"I don't know what to say. It's going to be trouble for the next month."

When Newsday spoke to Chin he was meeting with his human resources team to determine what to do with the staff.

He is trying to keep some employed to do maintenance on equipment, keep some of the machines running , do inventory and cleaning, but said the majority of staff would have to be sent home altogether or furloughed.

"We are very unhappy about this situation. "