‘It a mash wi up’

AT least two Kingston entrepreneurs whose livelihoods depend on charging US Embassy visitors a fee to store their mobile devices or provide them with phone calls are requesting a meeting with embassy officials, seeking ways to adapt after a new policy permitting applicants to bring cellphones inside the facility.

The applicants themselves have expressed mixed views about the policy change, with some welcoming the move, rejoicing that they no longer have to pay people outside the embassy to keep their devices while inside, and others expressing scepticism.

Cellphones are just one of the many items now permitted within the walls of the US Embassy. In an advisory on September 1 the embassy said small quantities of baby formula, baby food, milk, diapers, and baby carriers that can pass through an X-ray machine are now permitted. Other items include money, belts, watches, keys, earbuds, medical devices, and non-liquid medication, which must be declared before security screening.