From before the general election, one of the PUP's campaign promises was to re-open the free zone which had been forced closed due to COVID concerns coming over from Mexico.
And now a date has been set. 7News has since received a copy of a letter that the CEO of the Free Zone has sent to the business owners in the zone. In it, the CEO says, that the Government has decided that the Zone will open on February 1st.
That letter says, quote, "Cabinet has agreed that the Corozal Free Zone would resume operations on February 1st, 2021… Kindly be advised to finalize all arrangements and preparations to meet health department standards and regulations. Clearance from the Health Inspector is a prerequisite for any company wishing to resume operations." End quote.
Today, our colleagues from CTV3 News got a teleconference interview with the Vice-Chairman of the Free Zone's Board of Directors. Here's what he had to about the health and safety features that will be installed to prepare for the Zone's opening during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Anil Hotchandani, Vice Chair - BOD - Corozal Free Zone
"Government had made a election promise that they will open the free zone and they are true to their promise. They have started to even before the opening of the free zone they had built an approach road which was badly needed. Besides that they are putting in place safety protocols, because that has been the number one point of concern for them that they want to open the zone but they want it to be a safe area. We don't want the pandemic to spread. Safety protocols are being put in place with the direction of the ministry of health. All the stores have certain protocols that they need to accomplish by putting wash basins, putting hand sanitizers, wearing of the mask that's going to be very important, plus the CEO of the free zone and the chairman - they almost completed the building of the sanitizing tunnels where people will be walking through. These are all the things that are happening. All the businesses needs to clean up their stores and meet all those requirements. They will be inspected by the health inspector and once they are in compliant they will be allowed to open."
According to Hotchandani, the Management of the Free Zone and the business have arrived at an agreement on how the costs for these new safety features will be covered.
