Due to continuous lockdown for last two-months for Coronavirus pandemic, Restaurant owners and traders in Rajshahi are suffering from a huge loss. Though from May-31, restaurants of the district have been opened, all the restaurants are suffering from an acute crisis of customers.
According to sources, after two months of closure, restaurants and green-grocers markets of the district and Rajshahi city were opened from May-31. Though normalcy returned in bargaining and selling at the green-grocers' markets, the customers at restaurants have not yet returned.
Though all the restaurants of Rajshahi are open, those are suffering from shortages of customers. As a result, restaurant owners and traders were incurring a huge loss in paying house-rent, the salary of staff and electricity bills.
Shayon Shayan, owner of Testy Time first food restaurant of the city informed, they incurred a large sum of loss during the period of lockdown. Though the restaurant was closed, he had to pay the house rent, salary of staff and the electric bills. He said, he incurred Taka 10 lakh loss during the period of lockdown.
Riaz Ahmed Khan, President of Bangladesh Restaurant Owners' Association, Rajshahi district, informed, there were nearly 2,000 restaurants in Rajshahi and all of those suffered loss during the lockdown and now after reopening, these restaurants are suffering from the scarcity of customers.
He said the accumulated loss of Rajshahi restaurants during the lockdown would surpass Taka sixty crore so far. He further said, it is not possible to recoup so huge amount of loss without any government incentives.
