Businesses are reopening and some children are back in school following the cautious relaxations of lockdown in a phased manner. But business is taking time to pick up. The pandemic has taken its toll on many businesses.
38-year-old Dorji Loday has been operating a hotel in Monggar town for the last four years. With a hope to generate good income, he decided to hire a hotel and pays more than Nu 100,000 as rent. But today, empty chairs and tables is a daily scene. Before COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, his business was thriving. Now he is in the dilemma whether to operate or shut it down.
“In the earlier days, I used to earn more than Nu 10,000 but these days I manage to earn only Nu 1,000 – 2,000 in a day. So I am not able to pay the house rent and employee’s salary on time. Prior to lockdown, the hotel rooms also used to be full but these days I could see only few vehicles plying on the road and not many costumers visit my hotel for food and lodge and now I am worried how to move on,” he shared.
The situation is no different for other hoteliers too. A hotelier in the core town has already decided to shut her hotel for not being able to pay house rent on time.
“Prior to the nationwide lockdown, I used to generate income by operating the restaurant to pay house rent and to bear my daily expenses. And I was able to operate my restaurant for only ten days before the lockdown was imposed. After lifting lockdown I hardly see costumers coming to my restaurant. In the earlier days, I used to have more than 16 costumers visiting my restaurant daily but now I see only two or three costumers. I can manage my daily expenses from the restaurant but am worried about paying the house rent,” said Sonam Phuntsho, a restaurant operator in Monggar Town.
It is the same story with the grocery stores in the town. Not many customers come to buy groceries these days.
“The income generated from the shop is reduced by almost fifty per cent. During the lockdown, some of the grocery items got expired but after lifting the lockdown we managed to get some income but fewer customers are coming to buy grocery items. Before the pandemic, I used to sell grocery items worth about Nu 130,000 in a month but these days I manage to sell Nu 50,000 – 60,000 worth of grocery,” said Sherub Dorji, a Shopkeeper in Monggar.
Some of the clothes shops in the town even appealed to their landlords to waive off certain per cent of the house rent for last month.
“The sale was good as we could import clothes from India in earlier days but now it is very difficult to even get house rent from the shop. As I have newly established the shop, I did not get much time to interact with costumers but then I used to get almost Nu 3,000 every day but these days it is even difficult to get Nu 500 – 600 from the shop. If the situation doesn’t improve, I thought of shutting the shop but am worried about my existing stocks,” said SangayDema, a Garment Shop Operator in Monggar.
However, the nationwide lockdowncame as a blessing in disguise for few of the wholesale shops in the town as the Dzongkhag COVID-19 taskforce identified them to deliver essential items during the lockdown period. Currently, Monggar town has over 230 shops with a population of more than 3000.
Sonam Tshering
