LCCI, restaurants owners demand opening of outdoor dining

LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday supported the demands of hotels and restaurants owners regarding immediate opening of outdoor dining under strict compliance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

The demand was raised at an emergent joint press conference here a Lahore Chamber where LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah, Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan, Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, representatives of the hotels and restaurants industry Asadullah Khan Niazi, Amir Qureshi, Ahmad Shafiq, Raza Ahmad and M. Adeel also spoke on the occasion.

Since hotels and restaurants were opened in other provinces, therefore, the Punjab government should allow resumption of businesses immediately as prolonged lockdown had already caused irreparable loss.

They said that 40 per cent restaurants had already been closed during first wave of COVID-19 and left over one million people jobless.

The government should also take stakeholders on board while taking such decisions, as sudden closure of hotels and restaurants would again cause huge loss to this sector while perishable items worth of millions had been destroyed.

They said that closure of restaurants had not only put investment of billions of rupees on stake but also rendered millions of employees jobless. He said that dozens of other industries including poultry, fruits and vegetables and grocery stores were also associated with the hotels and restaurants sector and these would also be affected badly.

They said that hotels and restaurants owners following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain coronavirus, adding that though this was one of the most important sectors, it had yet to get the status of industry.

LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said the LCCI was well aware of the miseries of traders and had already taken up these issues at highest level.

He said that a number of countries had already opened hotel industry. "Now we have to live with coronavirus like various other diseases, therefore, government should manage and open the businesses," he remarked.

He said that business community was the backbone of economy and playing a great role in providing employment to people and revenue to government.

He said that coronavirus had already caused a huge loss and country could not bear more. People should take safety measures by themselves, not only to save their lives but for further ease in lockdown.

LCCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan and Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry said that industries should be allowed to run their operations with SOPs as being happened in other parts of the world.