Last-minute hustle for food, gas before 10am curfew

MARKET vendors, groceries and gas stations were doing a thriving business early Monday morning before they were required to close in time for the 10 am curfew start.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister announced a curfew between 10 am on Monday and 5 am on Tuesday for the Indian Arrival Day holiday and the Corpus Christi holiday on Thursday.

Market vendors near the Croisee, San Juan were wrapping up sales when Newsday visited. One vendor, who requested anonymity, said she had planned to close at 9.30 am. She said she had quite a few customers buying vegetables.

A customer had told her that police were on the way, she said, so she was in a hurry to close.

A nearby grocery closed its gates before 9 am with a few customers still inside.

The NP service station at Morvant Junction had a number of customers filling up their vehicles, as well as getting a few last-minute supplies at the station’s QuikShoppe. A worker at the gas station told Newsday it was closing promptly at 10 am and there was a normal flow of customers that morning.

A shop along the Eastern Main Road in Morvant had a line of people on the pavement waiting to get supplies. One woman said she was there to buy toilet paper. A man said he needed some bread and soft drinks to get through the day.

“Is bread and saltfish until tomorrow. Things hard today,” one customer joked.

The owner of the shop said it would be closed before 10 am.

Things were quiet in Port of Spain where all stores had already closed and only a few pedestrians were seen trying to get transport on Charlotte Street.

Police were patrolling the empty streets.