Errol Jarrett demonstrates the process of polishing an aluminium pot. - PHOTO BY SHELLY-ANN THOMPSON
RECENTLY MR. Jarrett thought of discontinuing his trade. On September 31, 2005 his workshop on Cherry Tree Lane in Four Paths was ordered closed by the parish council. The chimney at the workshop that prevented the smoke and the noise from reaching his neighbours was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan the previous year.
Complaints were made against him about the noise and smoke nuisance which led to the release. "The parish council, after 16 years, said I was in the wrong zoning area - a residential area. But when I started business here only about two houses were around."
With encouragement from his family and customers' demand for products, he decided to get back into business. Yesterday he opened a workshop in Vere, another community in Clarendon. "Every day I get a call from several people wanting various items so I can't give up."
STAFF
Mr. Jarrett told Lifestyle he has staff members who are depending on him plus children to feed. Between the workshop and store he employs seven persons.
Mr. Jarrett is modest about the superior quality of his products. He notes that his Dutchies are a little more expensive than others. Plus, there is a warranty on his pots.
"My pots don't corrode because we select special material." He explained that inferior material that makes the pot hollow and magnesia mixed with aluminium is not supposed to be used.
"So when you use these pots to cook with, they become white, so I use only aluminium.
EARLY DAYS
Mr. Jarrett's relationship with aluminium began when as a youngster he worked to send himself to school. The third of five children for a single mother, he was raised by his grandmother. "In school I used to work with a pot maker as a cleaner after school in Four Paths then my boss moved so I was on on my own. But I didn't know how to make pots because I used to clean. I decided to try a thing and I built a shed.
His trade brings a feeling of independence. "I feel self-worth and it gives me self-esteem to go on and use the blessing that God gives me. "
