Corozal Free Zone Successfully Reopens!
Shifting from crime to economic recovery…As we showed you on Monday, the Corozal Free Zone reopened for business after being closed for ten months. Some eight hundred persons were employed, under strict COVID-19 protocols. Minister of Agriculture, Abelardo Mai, who sits on the inter-ministerial committee that plans and reviews COVID-19 protocols for the Corozal Free Zone, says that he has some small concerns. But, he knows that the measures are working. There was mass testing of the employees over the weekend and the results detected four COVID-positive persons.
Abelardo Mai
Abelardo Mai, Minister of Enterprise
“So far we have close to a thousand persons are being employed, so if you multiply a thousand persons times two hundred a week, that is a substantial number close to a million dollars that will go in salaries and these are jobs that people need. I am happy for those who have jobs there. I am a little concern as all Belizeans on the health aspect, COVID-19 but we are putting all the measures in place to ensure that our workers there are not infected and if they are infected we can pick it up right away and deal with it. So far we are doing very well with that and I suspect that more people will start to work and business will open up. But, again, we have to be very careful and implement the measures or else will run into problems. If we do the right things we supposed be fine – we supposed to feel safer in Free Zone than out here.”
Reporter
“No reported infections coming out of Corozal Free Zone?”
Abelardo Mai
“Coming out – no – before we opened the free zone, we started testing on Sunday and we tested like four or five hundred people. The majority was rapid test and we did a number of PCR. I understand there were four people picked up with PCR, so they are not allowed to work in the free zone.”
Reporter
“Employees?”
Abelardo Mai
“Employees who were supposed to be employees but we did the testing before they started to work so we knew the status before we opened the free zone. One of them was a couple so it just shows that the system in place picked it up which is good and so they have been asked not to go to work and they are in isolation.”
