On Tuesday Karachi Electronics Dealers Association rejected the Sindh government’s latest coronavirus measures to contain the outbreak
The provincial government has restricted markets and business centre opening hours to 6:00am to 6:00pm on weekdays and ordered it to remain shut on weekends.
However, the association’s president, Muhammad Rizwan Irfan, pointed out that opening up shops at 6:00 am would not be feasible for the owners and asked the government to change the timing to 10:00 am to 8:00pm instead.
Anjuman-e-Tajran [traders organisaton] Sindh, representing the concerns of the traders also refused to comply with the new restrictions.
“Who is going to visit the markets at 6:00 am? Besides, closing our shops at 6:00 pm means the market will get over-crowded in the evening. How will this prevent people from contracting the virus?” Jawaid Qureshi asked.
“Small scale businesses are already suffering from the aftermath of the previous lockdown. The new measures will bring them more misery,” said the organisation’s senior vice-president Jawaid Qureshi.
“The new lockdown measures will reduce our income by 35%. Besides, two weekly offs will further damage our business activities,” said Aslam Qureshi.
