Abdullah Al Masum
Small traders in the capital are going through a sticky patch as their daily turnover have dropped heavily, owing to strict lockdown from April 14 to 21.
They have sought incentives from the government to offset their losses as many of such traders apprehend that their businesses might be permanently sealed if the lockdown rolled by.
Shamim Hossain Bulbul, who runs a grocery shop at Tejgaon in the capital, said due to the lockdown he couldn’t operate the business as per his expectation.
He faced a huge loss every day because he used to sell Tk 3,000 before lockdown but now it has dropped down to less than Tk 1,000.
Bulbul has to provide employee salary, electricity bill and shop rent from the profit of his grocery business. He said he has no way to continue this business.
“If we want to cling to this business, we need incentives from the government,” said Bulbul.
Shakhawat Hossain, the owner of Needs General Store, said he has lost 300 regular customers and 70 per cent of whom have left Dhaka before the lockdown to avoid the impact of COVID-19.
Lack of customer and lockdown has given his business a hard time.
“Normally, customers buy necessities upon leaving their offices about 4:00 pm but our shops are being kept closed in such peak hours due to instruction of government,” said Shakhawat Hossain.
He added that now it seems the business has to be shuttered and go home.
Jahir Rahman, a trader in the poultry business for five years at Amtali, said his sale is declining day by day due to pandemic.
He used to sell 50 to 60 chickens a day before the lockdown but now the number has come down to 30 or less.
“A large number of people have left Dhaka due to COVID-19 and thus a low turnout of customers means a slow sale,” said Jahir Rahman.
Mohammed Jakir, who has been selling ‘Sonali Chicken’ on a van for last two years, said he collects Sonali chicken from Kaptan Bazar in Gulistan for selling every day but nowadays he can’t sell all of his merchandises because of scant customers.
“Low sale and high bickering from the customers in shutdown sometimes prompt me to leave this profession,” said Mohammed Jakir.
Monjurul Islam, a fast food vendor, said his business is passing through a very bad patch and the schoolchildren are his big customer.
So, due to the closure of schools, his turnover turned very low and profit became barely minimum.
“Daily sales dropped significantly and it seems I have to wrap up my business in the near future,” he added.
Vegetable vendor Syed Ullah said he has been doing this business for last three years, he did not face such a situation like COVID-19.
But in the 1st wave of COVID-19, he was very much worried about his business because the vegetable sale was very minimum.
“During the last year’s 66-day long general holiday, I didn’t know how to survive in shutdown but now my business is going better than last year,” he said adding that he does not want such a lockdown.
President of Bangladesh Shop Owners Association Helal Uddin, they were yet to receive any assurance from the government over assistance for small traders.
“We don’t have any data exactly how much the business was affected by the pandemic. But it is understandable almost everyone was struggling with their business. We need support from the government to help them survive,” he said.
