Business dries up at Reggae Falls

“A Reggae Falls unuh a go? You want wi fi show yuh a where?” inquired a group of children, none of them older than 10 years old, who met THE STAR team as we made our way to one of St Thomas’ most prized recreational spots.

The livelihood provided by the popular aquatic stop, neatly tucked away in the rural community of Hillside, is one of many across the country drowning in the continuous waves of COVID-19.

In addition to its natural beauty, Reggae Falls is adorned with a few small wooden structures posing as restaurants and bars that once provided refreshments at a cost to visitors.

The continuous flouting of the coronavirus safety protocols forced the Government to order the closure of 17 beaches and 19 rivers across the island, including Reggae Falls, last August. It has been downstream for businesses since. Owner of the VIP restaurant and bar, Dwayne Wheeler, remembered what business was like before COVID.

“We would have a lot of crowd … lots of people here enjoying themselves and business would be operating as usual. We’d be cooking, jerking and so forth, and the bar would be open and people coming to support all the little businesses around the place. We would cater for the people. They could call and make reservations… We’d jerk chicken, pork, ackee and salt fish, roast breadfruit … whatever is ordered,” he said. Wheeler said that weekends and public holidays were the best commercial days, earning him up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Support for others

In addition to cooks, servers and bartenders, Wheeler told THE STAR that the river also provided support for others.

“You have tour guides like some little youth that will show you where to go and run in front the vehicle and you tip them or buy them a drink. We were also developing a little business where we charge a little fee to come inside, which helps to maintain the river … the bathroom facility and keep the place clean. We were organising it to be a community thing,” he said.

But though the pandemic forced them to put away pots and plans alike, Wheeler said he is still hopeful that business will rise again.

“Now is just we and the river. You have a few people come now and then on the weekends to have a swim and then leave, but business is closed from last year. We don’t open due to the prime minister’s protocols. We don’t want it seem like we a go round the system, so we keep closed,” he said. “Before COVID, this was our only source of income … so it really affect us but we have to find another way to maintain our lives and families, any means necessary to survive. We don’t complain, we just thank God. We don’t give up. It pause for now, and if it even takes two or three years … it’s going to come back again.”