Traders ask govt to withdraw directives on market closure

PESHAWAR: The traders here on Saturday asked the government to withdraw its directives regarding the closure of the markets at 6pm.

Speaking at a meeting, Ghulam Bilal Javed, President Traders Alliance and Provincial Chairman National Peace Council, said the traders could no longer afford to comply with the directives of the government.

The meeting unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the government to allow businesses to remain open from 10 am to 12pm for seven days a week in Ramadan.

He said closing businesses at 6pm and keeping the markets closed two days a week would cause immense loss to the business community.

Ghulam Bilal Javed said the government had failed to enforce the corona SOPs so it was now imposing its orders on the business community.

He said the government would be responsible for any eventuality if the authorities tried to close the markets by force.

He feared that due to the new restrictions, shopkeepers would not be able to pay their rents and thousands of workers would lose their jobs so the government should realize the seriousness of the situation and allow business activities to continue without restrictions.

Major Arshad, Amin Hussain Babar, Chaudhry Shahid Ghafoor, Ghulam Hussain Chand, Munawar Khurshid, Abdul Haseeb Chughtai Basit Waqar, Ammar Babar, Haji Ehsan, Ahmadullah Durrani and Asif Ali attended the meeting.