Just over a month after he was fired in August 2020 from the job he previously held for four years with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport by the incoming government, Allister Klein Collins, 39, opened his own firm to practice as a Justice of the Peace and Commissioner of Oaths to Affidavits.
“Five days after the government changed, I received my marching orders and I saw it as a blessing even though I was on the breadline and there was a lot of uncertainty. I had the freedom of starting from zero. I was in the red. I had bills to pay, children to provide for, a family to look after,” Collins told Stabroek Weekend in an interview. He opened his business, Allister Collins Firm, on September 21, 2020 the day before his birthday.
“It was hard at the start,” he related. “I had rent to pay for office space. When you open you don’t make money immediately. There is stiff competition with Maraj Building where touts await you directing you to which JP to go to by the time you reach the gate. I had to be creative and do things that JPs would not normally do, like spending money for advertisements.”
