Safety has always been a big deal at Five Star Water Sport Limited. Now as Managing Director George Pasmore and his team join the battle against COVID-19, keeping themselves and their clients safe has become even more important. Pasmore has made sure all 50 employees are vaccinated; some are fully protected while others are waiting to get their second jab.
He knows keeping everyone safe is critical to the survival of his 25-year-old business that offers everything from catamaran cruises to snorkelling.
“I have staff from Negril all the way up to Ochi and they have all taken their vaccine, [so too have] my JUTA drivers, tour guides and other staff. I let [employees] know that interacting with tourists means they have to be vaccinated because I have contracts with all the [cruise] ships and I have promised to take care of whomever they bring to us. Being vaccinated against a deadly virus is a part of it,” Pasmore tells LetsTravelCaribbean.com during a recent visit. “I educate my staff and let them know it is the responsible thing to do to protect themselves and families. People are dying all over and if we get a chance to help ourselves, why not take it?”
His willingness to embrace the change needed to keep his business afloat during a pandemic made getting the TPDCo’s stamp of approval an easy task.
Managing director of Five Star Water Sport Limited George Pasmore. Michael McFarlane, sanitises visitors’ hands.
“To get the gears in place to be passed by TPDCO wasn’t really hard because I knew that things had changed and I just have to move with the times. We adapt to everything now and we have to work with it because we don’t know how long this [pandemic] will last,” says Pasmore.
JUTA driver Michael “Junior” Miller has also adapted to the new norm, which means tourists are shuttled to and from approved venues within the safety of sanitised vehicles whose drivers strictly enforce the protocols. He estimates that he uses five bottles of Lysol each week during his trips, chauffeuring visitors to and from Negril for Five Star Water Sport Limited.
“Before we pick up the guests, [and] as soon as we drop them off, we sanitise the entire bus from seats to floor and [we make sure to] sanitise [passengers’] hands. I ensure to do this because I know it is important. We are dealing with life and I have to think about my family also and their safety,” he tells LetsTravelCaribbean.com.
Miller has gotten his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and is eagerly awaiting his second jab as soon as supplies arrive from the United States.
“It is stressing because I want to get my dose and be over with it. Where things are now and based on my job function, it is important to take the vaccine to better protect people around me,” he explains.
Another Five Star Water Sport employee, Michael McFarlane, is also quite concerned about the safety of his family members so he has been encouraging them to join him in being vaccinated. He’s a security guard at Mahogany Beach in Ocho Rios where tourists board for the catamaran cruise. He sanitises the hands and does temperature checks on hundreds of guests daily. He says he was pro-vaccine even before he was told it was a job requirement.
“The vaccine is the only protection I have against this thing. I took all my kids and encourage my family to take the vaccine because I’m a strong believer in what the vaccine can do,” he says. “I have to deal with people from all over every day so I have to be smart. I wear my mask all the time and make sure me sanitise because this thing is in the public [space].”
Text and photos by Akera Davis
