Unemployed and tips, restaurant employees fighting the crisis alone

Collected
Thousands of restaurant personnel in Dhaka and in the united states are set to get no salaries for April as the shuttered establishments have either laid them off or sent them on leave without pay amid the coronavirus outbreak.

It is one of the first sectors in Bangladesh to get damaged badly by the global health crisis, as the existence of customers has started thinning out since late February.

And the countrywide shutdown from March 26 to flatten the spread of coronavirus, whose presence was confirmed in Bangladesh on March 8, simply deflated them.

The correspondent visited the capital's Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur and Jigatola areas on Saturday. The areas are home to about 800 restaurants, according to restaurant owners, and 99 per cent of these were bolted shut.

A few was open for takeaway through Foodpanda, Uber Eats, Pathao Food and Shohoz Food.

For the majority of the restaurant staff, the coronavirus outbreak and the ensuing shutdown is a cruel joke.

"I have no money to perform my family. Now I have to count on relief," said a restaurant worker, who has been laid off recently.

The government has unveiled plans to transfer Tk 2,000 in cash each to about 40 lakh families whose breadwinners have lost jobs because of the shutdown. Hotel and restaurant personnel are reported to be among the would-be beneficiaries.

"I heard that the government will help restaurant workers. But we haven't received any formal request from the authorities at hand over the set of workers," said Rezaul Karim Sarker Robin, general secretary of the Bangladesh Restaurant Owner's Association.

He urged the federal government to raise the allocation together with draw up a set of employees in consultation with restaurant owners to ensure that none is left out.

The amount of food service establishment is estimated to be about 60,000, including hotel, restaurant and sweetmeat makers, where a lot more than 15 lakh people are working, according to the association and the sector's insiders.

In Dhaka alone, there are about 10,000 restaurants that employ about 3 lakh people, 90 % of which are actually unemployed, according to Robin.

Although the owners are not able to provide salaries, most are buying them essentials like rice, lentil, oil and potato, he said.

Robin urged the federal government to take immediate steps to supply cash to those personnel as Ramadan and Eid are approaching.

Ashfaq Rahman Asif, managing director of Tarka Restaurant, 128 East and Tehari Avenue, sees a grimmer outlook for the restaurant business in the coming months.

"The problem will never be solved soon as safety concerns would continue steadily to hurt the business enterprise," he said, adding that with zero business, one can't pay space rent, VAT and other service charges.

Tarka and Tehari Avenue are still open for takeaways and home delivery but since the beginning of April their frequency has nosedived despite taking all sorts of safety measures.

Many restaurant owners have demanded the federal government exempt them from paying bills and the 15 % VAT on rents.

However, leading global chain restaurants are open and has maintained their full roster of staff.

Seven KFC outlets in Dhaka, one each in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar are open from 11 am to 4:30 pm and eight Pizza Hut outlets in Dhaka and one in Cox's Bazar are open from 12 pm to 4:30 pm.

There is no dine-in service offered by the outlets at this time; only takeaway and home delivery.

The brands take orders through online platforms and direct calls and customers pays through credit cards and the mobile financial provider bKash.

All three outlets of another global pizza chain Domino's in Dhanmondi, Uttara and Banani have been open from 10 am to 5 pm through the pandemic.

"Domino's Pizza made its name by pioneering home delivery service around the world. So, in this crisis moment, we are confident to serve the customers properly as we follow stringent food safety, hygiene protocol and own delivery system," said Ahmed Rajeeb Samdani, managing director of Golden Harvest Group, which runs the Domino's chain in Bangladesh.

The pizza chain now makes about 120 deliveries a day.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

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