Sindh allows shopping centres, markets to do business six days a week

The Sindh Home Department issued a fresh amendment notification on Friday revising the business hours of the retail shops and markets in the province during the ongoing coronavirus emergency.

According to the new notification, business, commercial centres, and markets in the province have been allowed to do business six days a week, and all retail shops and markets have been allowed to stay open till 8pm.

The retailers and businessmen have been asked to keep their businesses shut once in a week either on Fridays or Sundays. Restaurants and eateries have been allowed to do their business either by the means of outdoor dining, takeaway, or home delivery service till 10pm daily.

50pc cut in staff

All administrative departments of the Sindh government have been directed to reduce the staff of their offices by 50 per cent on a weekly rotational basis in view of the prevailing coronavirus emergency in the province.

All those attending office have been told to wear face masks during office hours. A day earlier, relaxing its fresh lockdown order against the spread of the coronavirus after criticism from traders and opposition leaders, the provincial government had granted permission to the markets and the retail shops to remain open till 8pm daily.

In a tweet posted on Thursday, government spokesman Barrister Murtaza Wahab had announced the permission and expressed the hope that the market associations, the retail store owners and the public would ensure make compliance with the government-recommended standard operating procedures against the spread of the coronavirus.

He had said the provincial government would monitor as to what extent the anti-coronavirus SOPs were being observed. He said every citizen, including the retailer and the shopper, was under obligation to wear face masks during the business hours of the markets. The traders and retailers had been demanding extension of their daily business hours beyond 6pm by amending the latest lockdown order of the provincial government.