PESHAWAR: The business community has demanded of the provincial government to take notice of raids on shops, arrest of traders and collection of heavy fines on the pretext of violation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) announced for controlling spread of Covid-19.

The demand was made during a joint meeting of various bodies of traders which was held with Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Sherbaz Ilyas Bilour in the chair here on Wednesday.

The participants said that they were fully cautious about the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and following the SOPs, but the district administration was sealing their shops and arresting traders to recover heavy fines from them.

According to a statement, senior businessmen, including Mansoor Elahi and Junaid Altaf of SCCI, Anjum-i-Tajiran Peshawar president Haji Mohammad Afzal, Marriage Halls Owners Association president Khalid Ayub, Hotels Owners Association president Habibullah Zahid, Tajir Ittehad Peshawar cantonment president Mujeebur Rehman, Ameen Hussain Babar, Zafar Khattak, Khalid Gul Mohmand and others shared their views on the occasion.

The businessmen said they were also worried about the spread of coronavirus and ready to cooperate with the government for implementing the SOPs, but they would not let anyone play with their dignity. They asked the administration to take the relevant stakeholders on board before taking any action so that the campaign against Covid-19 pandemic would succeed without disrupting business activities.

“We have been playing a pivotal role in economic development of the province and country. The government should avoid victimising the business community and take effective measures for creating awareness among the masses to overcome the pandemic,” they said.

They asked the government to avoid punishing shopkeepers for not wearing face masks and called for launching a special campaign to create awareness among general public for taking safety measures while visiting bazaars.

Haji Afzal said most of the traders were taxpayers and the government should resolve their issues. Sherbaz Bilour assured the traders of taking up their recommendations regarding Covid-19 SOPs with the government and relevant departments.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2020