Car dealers for reopening showrooms

After the Punjab government allowed some traders and industries to operate despite the lockdown, the Lahore Car Dealers Federation has demanded of the government to also allow them to work by adopting precautionary measures.

The demand was jointly raised by Lahore Car Dealers Federation President Shahzada Saleem Khan while addressing a press conference on Thursday along with Chairman Anjuman-e-Tajran Car Dealers Jail Road, Chaudhry Idrees and Maulana Shaukat Ali Road President, Shoaib Khan besides other traders.

"The survival of car dealers is getting tough day-by-day since almost 90 percent of them operate in rented showrooms.

Now, we have no money to pay the rents," Shahzada said, adding that on one hand the government has allowed the workshop dealers to open their shops despite the lockdown while on the other hand it is not allowing the car

dealers to continue their business.

He said the lockdown put in place is of no use because the government itself allowing traders and industries to operate. "In that scenario, the government should also allow us to work otherwise impose a complete lockdown," he demanded.

According to Shahzada, people recover from coronavirus and get healthy, but the way the financial condition of the people is getting worst and it is mostly likely that "hunger would emerge" in the country in a short span of time which would ultimately lead to death due to starvation.

Recently, he said, they had written letters to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and other senior government officials highlighting the financial condition of the people associated with business and the car dealers. However, they paid deaf ear to our concerns, he regretted.

He threatened if the government failed to address their issues till April 15th, they would be left with no other option but to open up their businesses like other traders and industries.