Thousands of small business workers in the retail sector are going to face the risk of unemployment, unless shops reopen before Eid.
The International Labor Organization has already predicted that Covid-19 could jeopardize nearly 25 million jobs worldwide. As predicted, Bangladesh will be one of the countries affected.
Small retail businesses with 5 to 15 workers are likely to suffer more than those in the private sector because they are highly vulnerable.
Halaluddin, president of Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity, a shop owners' association, told UNB that they do not have access to the Tk 72,750 crore stimulus package announced by the government to resolve the detrimental effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy of the country, even though they shut down their enterprises from March 25 following the direction."Small, wholesale business people's way of income is fully stopped.
As a result, more than 1 crore is unemployed and going through a hard time. If the partial shutdown continues, many shops will disappear," he said, adding that the sector has already lost revenue to the value of Tk 5,000-6,000 crore.
"As the total amount of investment of capital on the period of Ramadan is around BDT 20-22 thousands crore, if the shops do not open as early as possible, the business and workers dependent on this sector will truly face the critical situation," he added.
He believes it will be a wise decision to open the shops across the country maintaining proper health guidelines.
He again urged the government to accept their proposal in the national interest, since the garment sectors and the largest marketplace of Narsingdi were opened.
Arifur Rahman Tipu, the president of the Dhaka Metropolitan Shop Owners' Association, also posed the same appeal to open their shops within a restricted range.
He also stated that they will assure the safety recommendations along with social distancing throughout the Eid shopping period.
