Govt urged to reopen restaurants

The Bangladesh Restaurant Owners' Association has urged the government to allow them to reopen their hotels and restaurants following health guidelines amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The association’s Secretary-General Imran Hasan read out a written statement at a press briefing at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday.

“Around 30 lakh workers work in 60 thousand restaurants all over the country. Besides, currently two crore people are directly and indirectly involved with the restaurant sector,” said the statement.

The association also placed six points demand, which includes allowing restaurants to reopen while maintaining health guidelines or to allow them 50 per cent of their capacity amid the pandemic.

“To revive the country’s restaurant business, Tk 20 crore should be allocated for the restaurant and hotel sector and long terms loans should be given under low interest from the SME sector as well,” the statement added.

They also said the authorities should vaccinate both workers and owners of the restaurant sector on an emergency basis considering it as a service sector and as front liners.

“The government should provide stimulus packages for the workers of this sector via mobile phone or distribute food among them via ration cards,” it added.

The association also demanded recognition of the hotel-restaurant sector as an industry as additional rules and regulations apply for the sector compared to other small and medium businesses.

The association also demanded a maximum 10 per cent commission on e-commerce takeaway, parcel and online delivery, like elsewhere in the world and sough specific regulations to administer such delivery services.

“On the other hand, the hotel-restaurant sector should be placed under a ministry and monitoring system should be introduced,” the statement also read.