Training in the area of food safety is to be provided for vendors who operated at the now closed Boston Jerk Centre in Portland.
The Portland Health Department has extended the closure of the internationally renowned jerk spot due to ongoing food safety breaches by vendors there.
The facility was initially shut down on September 6 after health inspectors discovered significant threats to customer health arising from a series of inspections that were carried out by them in August.
But residents blocked the Boston main road on Friday in protest at the continued closure of the jerk centre.
Hours before that protest, Chief Public Inspector for Portland, Lorenzo Humes, told the monthly meeting of the Portland Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday, that once certain environment-related conditions are rectified at the centre, it will be reopened.
Humes shared that several meetings have been held with various stakeholders, including the Social Development Corporation (SDC), where commitments were given to help the vendors at the jerk centre to form a benevolent society.
Through that society, Humes said the vendors can work to get support to enhance and improve the facilities at the centre.
"We (the Portland Health Department) did also carry out a number of interventions, and... the training (of the vendors) will be through the HEART NSTA/Trust.
"The most important part of the training will be a food safety training to be conducted by the Public Health Department with the public health inspectors and members of the HEART NSTA/Trust," Humes informed.
He said the vendors are also to be trained in facility operations, customer service, as well as occupation health and safety.
Meanwhile, Medical Officer of Health for Portland, Dr Sharon Lewis, clarified misinformation that was floating in the public domain relative to the closure of the jerk centre.
She said the condemnation of uninspected meat that was intended for sale to the public was at an establishment in the western section of the parish.
"None of the vendors at the Boston Jerk Centre, which is located in the eastern section of Portland, had committed this breach of the (Public Health Act) regulations. So, I hope that this clarifies that matter and clears the name of the Boston jerk vendors," Lewis said.
In relation to the development with Boston, she explained that there were issues over the years with some of the food establishments at the facility, which required several interventions.
Lewis said improvements were noted after the various interventions, but indicated that the adjustments were short-lived.
On September 6, three of the four jerk stalls were closed due to breaches, while the other was closed a few weeks later.
Lewis said the breaches, which varied among the different stalls, included a lack of food handlers’ permits for some of the vendors; unequipped or malfunctioning handwashing stations at some stalls; food contact services being unsuitable for food preparation; improper food handling practices; solid waste disposal and management issues; and unclean surroundings.
She stated that a reassessment of the first three stalls that were closed, which was done on Thursday, October 3, revealed that many of the breaches had not been rectified.
"Roughly 47 to 70 per cent of the breaches persisted at the different jerk stalls and, as a result, they remain closed," Lewis stated, adding that another inspection is scheduled.
"Despite the closures, we continue to actively engage the jerk vendors to remind them of the requirements under the regulations to facilitate their reopening," she said.
