PESHAWAR: The trade associations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Saturday warned of protests against the provincial government’s decision to close shops at 4pm.
The KP government on Friday had issued directives that all shops were to be closed at 4pm to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The traders alleged that despite giving relief to the business community, WAPDA had cut off their electricity meters citing non-payment of bills. They asked the provincial government as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan not to further add to the difficulties of the business community, which was already striving hard to withstand the ongoing crisis.
The traders maintained that they could no longer afford any lockdowns, adding that instead of closing the shops earlier, the government should open businesses in a phased manner with very strict SOPs to contain coronavirus.
Talking to this scribe, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce Vice President Haji Jalil Jan said “it seems that the government wants to starve the people through these ‘precautionary measures’ against coronavirus”.
He said the government should have decided the issue after due consultations with the provincial chamber as well as trade unions. “If this situation continues, KP traders will be left with no other option but to launch protests against the government,” he warned.
Shaukatullah Hamdard, Chairman of Tajar Ittehad, said regardless of the fact that the traders were losing millions of rupees on a daily basis, they were also being fined by the officials of district administration, which only intended to increase its revenue that was being hampered due to the virus lockdown.
Meanwhile, KP Traders’ Union President Mujeebur Rehman told this scribe that they had fully cooperated with the provincial government in its efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. However, he added, the KP government have taken wrong decisions that were only increasing the losses of traders.
He pointed out that PESCO had cut off electricity meters of various shops as traders were not being able to pay hefty bills due to the ongoing closure.
“On one side, the economic massacre of small traders is going on in full swing, while on the other side, hefty electricity bills are being dished out to the traders. The government must reconsider its decision before the trade unions take this matter to the streets.”
