Weekends now the last resort
FROM PAGE B1
He said products worth around Tk 15,000-20,000 were sold on average during a blockade. That number can reach upwards of Tk 35,000 on days when there is no blockade.
Around this time in 2019, goods worth Tk 35,000-40,000 were sold every day, he claimed.
Sohag said there were five salesmen in the shop in October and two more were hired in early November.
“Earlier, customers used to come to the shop, buy products and leave. But now things have changed. So, these two [salesmen] have been appointed to keep them engaged so that the buyers do not go back empty handed,” he said.
In such a situation, the focus is on selling as many products as possible on days without a blockade, Sohag added.
The BNP has called a fresh 48-hour countrywide blockade starting at 6:00am on Sunday. This will be the ninth spell of blockades since October 28. Hartals have also been added to its political programmes after the announcement of the polls schedule.
According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, a total of 236 vehicles have been torched, including five yesterday, as unrest griped the country since October 28.
Mohammad Asaduzzaman Apu, a three-piece seller at Chandni Chowk Market in the capital, said that goods worth Tk 10,000 to Tk 12,000 were sold daily during blockades. On days without the blockade, goods worth Tk 30,000 to Tk 40,000 are sold daily.
Even then, the normal three-day sales volume does not cover the sales lost across the other days when there are blockades, he added.
Apu also said a panic has been created among people given the current situation, so they come to the market less.
“Those who are coming are also shopping less,” he added.
There are five salesmen in the shop but Apu is now having a tough time bearing their salaries, shop rent and ancillary expenses.
MA Selim Bhuiyan, a shoe seller at Farm View Supermarket in Farmgate, said sales halve during the blockades compared to normal days.
He added that the number of sales on the rest of the days cannot be used to make up the sales lost due to blockades.
“Due to the loss of income, I had to take a loan from relatives to pay a part of employee salaries in November,” 41-year-old Bhuiyan said despairingly.
“We haven’t overcome the Covid-19 crisis yet. Then there is the political crisis. It is very sad to think about how to survive in business,” he added.
Helal Uddin, president of the Bangladesh Shop Owners Association, the national platform of retailers, said business conditions were worsening day by day due to blockades.
Traders were regularly facing new crises due to declining sales.
“For the last six-seven months, I have been trying to highlight the current crisis to the higher level of the government. But I can’t find any scope because they’re not making any appointments,” he said.