Restaurant operators have been frustrated as uncertainty looms over opening of their shops in Ramadan amid the continued drives against 'non-compliant' buildings in the capital.
The sector may face a long-term crisis if this uncertainty is not removed immediately, opined persons familiar in the sector.
Most of the restaurants usually remain closed at the daytime in Ramadan, a peak season of their business. And, the restaurant business runs basically centering different iftar items in the holy month.
However, scenario is different this time as tension has arisen even upon the iftar-centric business due to the uncertainty of opening of the restaurants.
The people concerned said that the number of customers in the restaurants have declined significantly after the Bailey Road building fire that left at least 46 people dead in the capital on February 29.
As a result, restaurant owners are facing hardship to continue their businesses. The drives being conducted by government agencies have appeared as a new threat to restaurant owners.
Although there is not exact statistics on how many restaurants have already been closed by the government bodies, Imran Hassan, secretary general of Bangladesh Restaurant Owners' Association (BROA), told the FE that at least 200 restaurants have been closed and about 200 to 300 restaurant owners have stopped their businesses by themselves in fear that they might face harassment.
Making iftar items, the main products of restaurants in Ramadan, is now a tough job for the restaurant owners since fear of harassment forcing them to close their shops, said the BROA leader.
Harun-Ur-Rashid, manager at the Ananda Restaurant (Kasturi) located at East Rampura in the capital, said they have witnessed a lower number of customers last week due to the Bailey Road fire tragedy.
Mohammad Ershad, manager of Al Kaderia Restaurant in Rampura, said most customers asked about the fire safety measures during entering the restaurant.
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and the Fire Service and Civil Defense raided their restaurant after the fire incident.
The government bodies could not identify any fault in the restaurant, the manager said, adding that many restaurants among their area were fined and shut by them.
The drives by the agencies forced many restaurant owners to shut their shops.
During a visit to the Bailey Road area, this correspondent has found that most of the restaurants there were remain closed. Some were closed by the agencies and some were closed by the operators themselves amid the mounting tensions of harassment.
Oasis Café and Restaurant, Burger Xpress and Café Galeteria were seen shut on Tuesday for constructing staircase to emergency exit of the building.
A huge number of employees of the closed restaurants became jobless due to their closure before Ramadan and the Eid festival.
Manager of Al Kaderia Restaurant said many of the jobless of the closed restaurants communicated him for a job in his restaurant. However, he had a limited scope.
Md Nazrul Islam, manager of Al Faham Restaurant in Paltan, said Special Branch of police, the Fire Service and Civil Defense and the city corporation authorities raided his shop.
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