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Strike causes shortage of essentials goods
KATHMANDU, MAY 04 -
Retailers, who are allowed to open shops just two hours in evening during the Maoist strike, are running out of goods.
They are unable to bring in fresh stock from wholesalers due to vehicular dispution caused by the indefinite bandh.
Issuing a notice, the UCPN-Maoist has fixed the two-hour strike recess between 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. everyday. However, businessmen have been saying that the alloted time is insufficient to import goods from wholesalers.
“All stock was sold out and goods such as rice, pulse, beaten rice, oil and other daily essential goods cannot be kept in stock for long time,” said Pabitra Bajracharya, president of Nepal Retailers’ Association. “If the strike continues, we will run out of foodstuffs from tomorrow.”
The strike called by the Maoists has hard hit customers who do not have financial capacity to stock up on essential items. Many people had stock goods before the strike started.
“Maoists should have at least provided us five hours of time during the morning time to allow vehicles to ferry essential goods,” said Suman Bastakoti, a retailer at New Baneshwor. “After all, those in the streets also need food,” he said. How will they feed people and their supporters when retailers run out of stock?”
Some retailers they are afraid of opening shops because of possible incidents of lootings.
The government and wholesalers have been saying that they have stored foodstuffs sufficient for a month. However, the stocks have not reached the market due to the strike, thus making the supply situation worse day by day.
“Wholesalers have stored food, but they are unable to supply,” Atma Ram Murarka, an industrialist. “The entire business sector is paralysed.”
Though National Trading Limited, Salt Trading and Nepal Food Corporation have been maintaining good stock of salt, sugar, rice, flour, pulse and some other goods, the state-own bodies cannot supply them, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies,
The ministry is not in position to buy the argument that essential items are in short supply in the market. There is no crisis of essential commodities in the market until now, said ministry spokesperson Ganesh Dhakal.
The government will come up with a new mechanism to ensure smooth supply of goods, he added.
Posted on: 2010-05-05 09:09
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