LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has urged the govt to announce only one holiday instead of two as economy is already under enormous pressure.

The LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that two holidays only for private sector and schools will not be doing any relief in the smog-hit areas. He said while the business community supports the government's efforts to reduce smog and air pollution, it also asks government not to close only the private sector offices.

The LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Zafar Mehmood Ch, and Vice President Adnan Khalid butt stressed in a joint statement that closing only the private sector couldn't seem to have the desired effects. The LCCI office-bearers recommended that the government shut down all private-public businesses as well as educational institutions. Second, the market hours should be shortened until approximately 8 PM in order to encourage people to take full advantage of the daylight for work and other activities.

The LCCI President stated that in addition to connecting with foreign purchasers, the private office will need to engage closely with the other departments on a variety of issues, including tax and other related issues. He argued that collaboration with the government agencies is necessary for such operations.

The LCCI President stated that "if only private offices are closed, the system will be stopped," adding that the closure of schools will also have an impact on children' ability to receive an education. He said that all offices, both governmental and private, should be closed on Saturday and Sunday besides reducing the time as they were in Covid-19.

All facets of society were urged by the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry to assist the state during this testing period. Because of the smog, the health issues are also surfacing putting pressure on already stretched health sector and also the state if economy is in a terrible situation, so we need to reduce our expenses, he concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022