Owners: Closing restaurants not solution

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Owners of restaurants in Kabul criticized a recent move to close their businesses over the coronavirus outbreak, saying required hygienic measures are applied by them to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Interior and the Kabul Municipality have recently started a campaign to ban public gatherings as well as close restaurants in the city where large number of crowds are attracted.

Closing the restaurants will harm the economy of those who are working in this field, said the owners.

“We provide required facilities such as face mask, gloves and hand washing sanitizers,” said Obaidullah Imran, owner of a restaurant in Kabul.

“Our customers have not stopped visiting our restaurant. They have trust in us, but there is a five percent in their number,” said Ghulam Sakhi, owner of a restaurant.

Head of a union of local investors in Kabul, Abdul Salam Rahimi, said they have proposed a plan to the Presidential Palace to allow them to operate remotely.

“Restaurants should remain open,” Rahimi said, adding that there are at elat 1,000 restaurants in Kabul.

Afghanistan woke up to face the grim challenge posed by COVID-19 at least three months after the virus was first detected in China in December 2019. (TOLOnews)