Chairman, Businessmen Group and former President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Siraj Kassam Teli, has said the timing of shops' closure should be extended up to 9:00 pm, shopping malls to 10:00 pm and marriage halls to 11:00 pm. He said that and all shopkeepers, shopping malls and marriage halls must be allowed an hour more to completely shut down their businesses.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting with small traders in which majority of representatives of different market associations favoured KCCI's suggestions to keep their shops open up to 9:00 pm and shut them completely by 10:00 pm. Teli informed that Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah had constituted a 4-member committee headed by Manzoor Wassan, Provincial Minister for Industries, to consider the proposals and informed him about the decision.
After this the Chief Minister will announce the final decision. President KCCI Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Senior Vice President KCCI Asif Nisar, Vice President Muhammad Younus Soomro, Chairman Special Committee for Small Traders Majeed Memon and others also spoke. Earlier in the meeting small trades were of the view that the move of early closure of shops had never been successful in the past, terming the Singh government plan impracticable.
According to sources the small traders and shopkeepers regretted that contrary to the promise about taking all business-related decisions after consulting the community, the Sindh government has taken the step of closing shops at 7:00 pm unilaterally. The shopkeepers have been asked to pull down shutters at 7:00pm sharp, they said, adding that the people hardly get out of their homes before evening. Therefore, they need at least two hours to carry out their shopping plan. They said that the government should focus on other avenues of energy conservation instead of reducing business hours. "Karachi is different from other cities. Most of the shopping activity is witnessed after 6:00 pm till mid night, they said.
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