Business operators grieve over short trading hours, press Government for extension
Business operators all over Zimbabwe are grieving over short trading hours running for 7 hours from 08.00 hours to 15.00 hours. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers is in support of an extension of the trading time.
The President of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers Denford Mutashu believes an extension of the operating hours will warrant businesses to stay afloat during the strenuous circumstances brought by the COVID-19 lockdown.
Business entities are in support of an extension of operating hours from 08.00 hours to 16.30 hours increasing the period by an hour and half. This means curfew hours will run from 20.00 hours to 05.00 hours.
The ongoing level 4 lockdown has a curfew starting at 18.00 hours to 06.00 hours the next day. These hours slow down business activities resulting in negative effects impacting the general citizen.
Denford Mutashu claims that consecutive lockdowns have unfortunate consequences and this has been worsened by local authorities hiking shop license fees and an inflation in tollgate fees.
Business operators grieve over short trading hours, press Government for extension
“Consequently, several business have resorted to closing meaning hundreds of people have become jobless. To curb for all the running costs and extra expenses an extension of operating hours is essential.”
“Another huge barrier is business fighting the pandemic in the middle of fighting for its own survival where trading hours are set for 7 hours with a cyefew from 6am to 6am. Movement of goods and services is greatly delayed due to numerous roadblocks,” Mutashu said.
The current lockdown runs to the 15th of February and business anxiously await for positive news from the government. With the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine arriving on the 15th of February also, health experts encourage the government to consider relaxing the lockdown restrictions and focus on the vaccination process. This will hopefully enable economic recovery.