Reopening of marriage halls demanded in Multan

Association pledges to follow SOPs, if devised by Punjab govt

MULTAN:

Representative of the Marriage Halls Association have appealed to the government to allow reopening of the halls with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

Speaking at a news conference at Multan Press Club, the office-bearers of the association said the halls were closed around three and a half months ago in wake of the lockdown imposed due to outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

They added that they had to cancel advance bookings for wedding ceremonies owing to the sudden lockdown, which resulted in payment issues of large amounts to their clients.

“The wedding season was in full swing in March and the sudden closure of our halls caused heavy losses to us,” they further said. They maintained that it was a large industry and hundreds of people had become jobless on account of closure of wedding halls.

They highlighted that around 90 per cent of marriage halls were on rent, adding that they were struggling to pay rent to the owners and salaries to the staff without business.

The association demanded that the government allow them reopening of the business with SOPs to earn livelihood for their families. Association Chairman Hassan Mahmood Khan, President Mian Nusrat Hussai, General Secretary Kashif Mirza and others attended the press conference.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2020.