Traders furious as govt slaps lockdown

Businessmen fear decision will further increase liabilities of different brands

LAHORE:

The unexpected move by the Punjab government to impose a lockdown on businesses, particularly retail and wholesale trade, just days before Eidul Azha has triggered a wave of fury within business community of the province.

Traders, who were directly impacted by the decision, initially refused to comply with the order and tried to open markets on Tuesday morning. However, district administrations as well as police prevented them from doing so. At some places, the police had to baton-charge the traders to control the law and order situation.

On Monday, the Punjab government announced that all markets would remain closed from July 28 to August 5 under the provincial lockdown strategy to contain the spread of Covid-19 during the upcoming Eidul Azha.

Traders regretted the government’s decision because the shopping season hit its peak a few days before Eid.

“Government needs to review the decision, which it took without prior consultation with the relevant stakeholders,” said Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh while speaking to The Express Tribune.

“Since Monday, traders from different markets have approached us, requesting that the government should allow the reopening of business.”

Since the Covid-19 threat was largely under control, authorities should give at least two more days to the traders for running their business, Sheikh said, adding that it could help businessmen partially overcome the loss borne on account of previous lockdown. Chainstore Association of Pakistan Chairman Tariq Mehboob voiced fear that the move would further enhance liabilities of different brands.

“As regular taxpayers, we were not expecting this sudden move from the provincial government,” he said. Mehboob pointed out that Eidul Azha was one of the few annual occasions when the shopping spree hit its peak.

“We are running businesses with proper standard operating procedures (SOPs) in line with directives of the government but still this has not helped us conduct business activities with peace of mind,” he pointed out.

He underlined that the sudden decision would lead to default on borrowing by a large number of enterprises as well as lower tax collection from the business community, which would prove unhealthy for the economy. A few traders highlighted that the spread of Covid-19 was feared throughout Pakistan but no other provincial government issued such a notification.

“Covid-19 is affecting the entire country, however, no other province apart from Punjab has taken such an anti-business initiative,” said All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajraan (Central) General Secretary Naeem Mir. “We stand with businessmen who are willing to reopen their businesses because small and medium-sized traders cannot afford to close their shops.”

He lamented that the government was not helping the traders who were unable to do business owing to such decisions.

Mir urged the government to revoke the notification.

On the other hand, officials of the Punjab government said such a step had to be taken because of fears of a spike in Covid-19 cases during Eid days.

“We had witnessed a sharp rise in Covid-19 patients during last days of Ramazan as well, which made it tough for us to control the outbreak,” an official of the Punjab government said.

“Neither traders nor the public followed the SOPs during Eidul Fitr, and markets remained overcrowded.” The government feared that the same would happen again and Pakistan’s economy could not afford additional lockdowns, he said.

Meanwhile, the tussle between government authorities and traders resulted in nearly no business for the latter on Tuesday because shoppers refrained from visiting markets for Eid shopping. In violation of the order, many markets opened during initial hours of the day but were forced to close down later.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2020.

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