Owners of community centres want to reopen at 50% capacity
The demand was made on Sunday by the Bangladesh Community Center, Convention Hall, and Catering Association
Highlights:
- There are 4000 community centres in the country,of which 400 are in the capital
- Some 25 lakh people involved in this sector are currently unemployed
- The industry is incurring a loss of Tk100 crore every month
- The decoration sector is incurring a loss of Tk15-20 crore a month
The Bangladesh Community Center, Convention Hall, and Catering Association, demanded that community centres which have been closed since the beginning of the pandemic be allowed to operate at 50% capacity like restaurants, following health rules.
The owners' association demanded this during a press conference at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Auditorium of the National Press Club on Sunday.
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According to the Bangladesh Community Center, Convention Hall, and Catering Association, there are about 4,000 community centres in the country and 400 in the capital alone.
Monir Hossain, general secretary of the association, said each community centre is set up in an area of at least 5,000 to 30,000 square feet, where operating at 50% capacity would easily be possible.
Shah Zakir Hossain, president of the association, said the industry has been incurring a loss of Tk100 crore a month for the past 14 months. And, the decoration sector associated with this industry is also incurring a loss of Tk15 to Tk20 crore every month.
Some 25 lakh people involved in this sector are currently unemployed, he added.
Hossain said, though community centres were closed for the pandemic, the house rent, income tax, holding tax, value-added tax (VAT), employee salaries, electricity bills, Wasa bills, and gas bills, all had to be borne by community centre owners which has become practically impossible these days.
