PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) wedding halls association on Saturday decided to protest against the government for closing wedding halls to stop the spread second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the province.
The association said that lockdowns have caused a Rs7 billion loss to the wedding hall industry and the association is not in a position to afford their work to stop.
KP Hotel and Wedding Hall Association (KPHWHA) President Khalid Ayub told Profit that “the present government is bent on shutting down the wedding Halls industry across the province.”
He added that earlier, they had shut down the industry for over six months on the federal and provincial government’s request but the industry was not provided with any compensation.
He complained that all other industries were compensated for losses but no relief was given to wedding hall owners, warning that the decision to close wedding halls will render thousands of people jobless across the province.
“The provincial government and the district administration have decided to close wedding halls for marriages from November 20, which the association has rejected and will protest against it,” Ayub informed after the association meeting in Peshawar.
“If the district administration or the provincial government want to shut down the wedding halls industry again, thousands of people associated with the industry would be forced to protest against the government.”
He claimed that there is not enough open space in the province to hold wedding ceremonies if indoor wedding ceremonies were banned.
Ayub added that after the lockdown was lifted, the association implemented all SOPs provided by the government therefore there was no justification for the district administration to seal the wedding halls.
He alleged that at present, the district administration is shutting down the industry across KP on a daily basis for ‘extortion’ under the guise of coronavirus SOPs violations.
“If the government is imposing restrictions on wedding ceremonies to prevent the spread of coronavirus why is the administration not taking action against political rallies in different cities of the province?” he questioned.
Khalid Ayub concluded by saying that said that employment opportunities in KP are scarce due to terrorism, adding that “the government is carrying out an economic massacre across the province.”
