Mutiny shutters businesses
February 28, 2009
The second day of a bloody mutiny by border guards put brakes on business yesterday in the areas close to the Pilkhana BDR headquarters and other parts of the city, as panic gripped shoppers and traders. The stock market suffered a downturn for a second day, an indicator of low investor confidence. Banks recorded thin transactions amid a low presence of clients. Transport services also faced the blow as commuter movement thinned out.
Up to the Dhanmondi 27 crossing, businessmen shuttered their shops and offices along Mirpur and Satmashjid roads.
Except for the anxious steps of pedestrians, footpaths that are otherwise full of the buzz of hawkers were quiet. Similar was the scenario on the roads — bare and calm.
Only the lanes connecting Mirpur and Satmashjid roads were greeted with sporadic crowds of retailers and salesmen. Yesterday they had no work.
“It’s just bleeding here. I failed to deliver UPS (uninterrupted power supply) worth Tk 1.20 lakh to a customer, due to the BDR mutiny,” said Nazmul Hossain, a distributor of battery and computer accessories, standing behind the bars of a shopping complex near Dhaka College.
“Our business is suffering losses. People in the surrounding areas are now in trouble,” said Nazmul, before he ran to safety as gunfire rang out in the distance.
“I failed to make payments against imports due to the firing and bloodshed at the BDR headquarters yesterday,” said Nazmul, who deals with his suppliers abroad through the Trust Bank branch at Rifles Square.
The Agora outlet of Rahimafrooz Superstores at Rifles Square remained closed for a second day. An official of Agora, seeking anonymity, said the branch would suffer a loss of about Tk 4 lakh.
“Our dealings are closely linked with retailers. If the markets remain open, we can carry out our transactions up to the mark,” said Md Jainal Abedin Talukder, in-charge of the New Market branch of Uttara Bank.
The branch registered about Tk 1 crore in transactions on Wednesday, down from daily transactions of more than Tk 2 crore recorded earlier, he said.
Mohammad Ashraful Alam, owner of a women’s clothing store Anika Fashion at Gausia market, was unhappy because his store was closed.
“Not only mine, more than a thousand shops here are incurring losses,” Alam said, referring to the market that garners crores of taka every day in trade.
The Bata outlet down the Elephant Road was open with a sparse presence of shoppers.
“Sales are dull amid a low movement of customers,” said Monirul Islam, a Bata salesman. “We sold goods worth only Tk 14,000 on Wednesday.” Islam counted only Tk 8,000 in proceeds from sales until midday. Sales figures usually near Tk 2.5 lakh a day, Islam told The Daily Star.
The two-day mutiny and bloodshed at BDR headquarters has also affected the economic activities in other parts of the city.
“It’s tough to run shops under such panicked situations. Most shop owners kept their outlets closed today,” said Helal Uddin, president of Dhaka Shop Owners Association.
An auto-rickshaw driver worried about how to pay the daily rents to the owner of the vehicle, as many urban people stayed home. Many CNG auto-rickshaws and taxicabs lined the edges of the roads because of an absence of passengers.
The hospitality business also bore the brunt. Several programmes that were due Thursday were postponed and some advance bookings were also cancelled, industry insiders said.
MA Awal, sales director of Sonargaon Hotel, said two programmes have been postponed and some guests checked out amid worries of a further deterioration of the situation.
“If the situation does normalise shortly, we are afraid that advance bookings for some international conferences that are due to be held here might also be cancelled,” he said.
Officials of the Dhaka Sheraton and Radisson Water Garden Hotel also echoed the same.
Source: The Daily Star
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