–Traders had threatened to resume businesses from May 10 on Saturday
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar on Sunday announced that the provincial government has worked out standard operating procedures (SOPs) to allow businesses to begin operating in phases amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to a delegation of traders and industrialists who had called on him in the provincial capital, the CM assured that he would personally look into resolving their issues.
However, he said the government has made it clear to industrialists and traders that they will have to strictly adhere to guidelines while operating. “Industries would be shut in case of a violation of the SOPs,” he warned.
Acknowledging that is the commoners who bore the brunt of the coronavirus lockdowns, he maintained that the common man will be able to make a living once businesses are open. “Our objective is to compensate for hardships being faced the common man,” he added.
The CM said that markets will be allowed to open in phases and a committee led by the provincial minister for industries has been formed for the purpose.
He said that six thousand tests of coronavirus will be carried out daily across Punjab from Sunday and added that personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other different devices related to the coronavirus pandemic are widely available in the province.
“Tests of media workers, police personnel, administrative offices, health workers, TB and HIV patients, pregnant women under treatment in hospitals and inmates will also be conducted to ensure that business allowed to operate have some safety,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, a panel of Lahore traders had said they would defy the government orders and resume their businesses from May 10.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Irfan Iqbal Shiekh said: “Enough is enough for the traders of Lahore and they will open their markets from the 10th without waiting for the permission.”
He said the decision to open markets was taken in a meeting attended by the representatives of more than 100 associations of Lahore markets, who decided to resist the lockdown. According to the LCCI chief, the traders would initiate a jail bharo movement if the government came after them.
It may be noted here that markets, with the exception of grocery stores and vegetable and meat shops, in the province are closed since mid-March when the government decided to put the province on lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly contagion. It has been extended multiple times since then.
On Friday, the Punjab government again extended lockdown in the province till May 9, however, some stores and shops were allowed to open from 2 am to 4 am.
According to the Punjab Planning and Development (P&D) Board, 11.2 million people could lose their jobs if the provincial government imposed a complete lockdown to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the board informed its international development partners that unemployment on account of a complete lockdown could increase by 18.65 million across the country and by 11.2 million in Punjab alone.
On April 23, the government had decided to partially open Ramzan Bazaars. Minister of Industries Mian Aslam Iqbal had said that the traders should “ensure that precautionary measures regarding coronavirus are taken in the markets which will be open during Ramzan”. “Any negligence would result in the market being immediately closed,” he had added.
