The People's Majlis on Monday accepted a motion submitted by member of parliament for the Hoarafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem, on the difficulties faced by operators of cafés and restaurants due to restrictions imposed following Covid-19.
The motion was accepted and forwarded to debate during Monday's sitting of parliament, in a unanimous decision by 24 MPs who participated in the vote.
Speaking while submitting the motion, Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem stated that restrictions being imposed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) during the state of public health emergency extended across Maldives due to Covid-19, had caused immense losses to operators of cafés and restaurants in different parts of the country, and had forced some in the industry to near-bankruptcy.
MP Ahmed Saleem stated that he was submitting the motion as a call to the government to facilitate eases for the businesses, as they were slowly losing hope to rebuild despite near-constant advocacy of their concerns since the beginning of the pandemic.
"The people of the Maldives continue to largely seek food and beverages from establishments such as cafés and restaurants even amid the pandemic. The industry is still considered a gateway to those with business interests. With the state of public health emergency extended across the Maldives at present, restrictions imposed on the operations of cafés and restaurants, especially in the Greater Male' area, have brought businesses to a near standstill. This is causing a severely negative impact on the nation's economy."Member of Parliament for the Hoarafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem
In addition to this, MP Saleem noted that most of the businesses in the F&B industry were small-scale enterprises, and that they operated with huge costs incurred for expenses such as rent, which had been highly detrimental to most businesses following the economic downturn caused by Covid-19. MP Saleem also noted that some businesses had been unable to make payments for utility bills despite the grace period issued, and that they had lost water and electricity at their business establishments as a result as well. MP Saleem went on to highlight other concerns of those operating cafés and restaurants, such as having to pay full rent payments despite being unable to provide salaries to employees.
Once the motion had been forwarded for debate, MP for the Maafannu-Central constituency Ibrahim Rasheed (Bondey) said that the restrictions in question being imposed by HPA, that had left cafés and restaurants operators out of business facing huge losses, were not ones imposed by the Director General of Public Health.
Further detailing his claims, MP Ibrahim Rasheed stated that HPA had been "taken hostage" by the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), and that HPA's recent, highly detrimental restrictions had not been imposed by the DG of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru, but on behalf of members of TAG themselves.
MP Ibrahim Rasheed also noted that one of the biggest complaints on the restrictions being imposed by HPA was the vehicle movement restriction order in effect past 6pm in the capital, which is noted to be reducing business turnover for cafés and restaurants, in addition to for forcing people to use crowded modes of public transport to travel in the city.
During his time on the floor, MP Ibrahim Rasheed noted that blame for the issues with HPA's handling of restrictions would also fall on top-level executives for the public health authority. He added that HPA representatives would also be called into the Parliament Committee on Economic Affairs later in the day, and noted that the issue of members of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) overpowering the public health authority for personal gain in this time of crisis was a serious one that warranted review on behalf of the government.
