NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Restaurants Bahamas Limited, operators of KFC Nassau, said yesterday that the current 10pm curfew has reduced its hours of operation by 23 to 25 percent.
The company on Friday announced that it has terminated 35 employees across its nine locations due to what it called “unprecedented economic slowdown” resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions the government imposed to mitigate against the virus, including the ongoing nightly curfew.
The company told Eyewitness News: “The 10pm curfew dictates an 8:45 pm to 9pm closure for our restaurants, which reduces the actual hours of operation by 23 to 25 percent and is especially impactful on the ability to provide dinner meals.”
In a recent statement, Restaurants Bahamas Limited Human Resources Director Nina Maynard noted: “For almost a year now, the curfews imposed on New Providence have severely impacted sales and revenue.
“We have made adjustments throughout this pandemic in order [to] keep everyone employed, but unfortunately we now find ourselves in the position where this very difficult move is simply unavoidable.”
According to the company, the ongoing 10pm curfew on New Providence has resulted in the fast-food chain losing an “entire segment of business”.
There have been varying restrictive measures, including complete lockdowns and weekend lockdowns since mid-March 2020.
Those restrictions were largely relaxed in July, prompting a massive resurgence of the virus and an ultimate resumption of restrictive measures to stem the surge.