Some businesses alleged that the low income and limitations such as lack of public transportation did not allow them to continue operating. Private sector insists on reviving the economy.
Zero income, lack of clarity of a plan to reactivate the economy, government harassment and lack of support have already forced a dozen companies to start closing their businesses indefinitely.
Last Friday in a statement at least five restaurant brands reported that they will close because the reopening phase is unclear.
“Due to the lack of clarity of the reopening phases by the Government and limited measures of the lack of public transport, we have reached an unsustainable and oxygen-free stage to continue with our doors open,” said the group of restaurants El Piche, Green House, Skillets, Crepe Lovers and Go Green.
At the close of these food businesses, indefinite closings of other businesses have been added such as La Tecleña bakery, Pan Lido, Pan Sinai and La Casa de las Baterías, for example.
The Lido company, one of the most popular on the palates of Salvadorans, highlighted that due to the measures implemented by the Government they were forced to close their cake factory, so they will not be able to dispatch orders and they also close temporarily their operations.
Yesterday it also emerged that the Intradesa textile factory and the Adoc shoe factory were closed after an inspection by the Ministry of Labor with the presence of elements from the police and the Army.
Both companies had permission to produce supplies such as masks and gabachas.
For the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, Federico Hernández, this is a measure that was already coming, due to the small margin of operation and maneuver left to businesses with the quarantine restrictions dictated by the Government.
SEE ALSO: ADOC Factory Closes Operations on Government Orders
He stated that as a union since the quarantine began two months ago, they had been warning that the closure of the companies could occur.
“We were not listened to, the companies were not given respite and now many are announcing that they are closing, there are other companies that have already closed and have not announced it,” he explained.
Micro and small entrepreneurs stopped their operations for a month and now the outlook is “bleak” for medium-sized companies as well, he said.
“The Government did not heed the warnings and there are the results. We must remember that when a source of employment is closed, dozens are left without their daily sustenance from him and his family, ”he explained.
He predicts that more company closings may come if the government insists on taking “economic drowning” measures, without letting them operate gradually.
It ensures that there are no companies that can endure permanent confinement.
“The worst of the case is that the weeks go by and there is no light at the end of the tunnel, there is no planning that one says, in as long as we are going to start opening,” he said.
The private sector has also highlighted that they have come in talks with the government to establish the protocols that would be taken to start operating, however this dialogue was stalled this week and has not been called again.
“We have spent two weeks explaining to the government that in order for people to be able to work without getting infected, protocols must be created and they must be done in an orderly manner, and this has not been addressed either,” said Hernández.
The vice president of the Association of Distributors of El Salvador (ADES) José Mayorga, stated that at this time, due to the crisis and quarantine measures, companies are operating to obtain the income that allows them to leave with payroll payment responsibilities.
“It is not generation of profits, but income to honor the commitment that one has as an entrepreneur,” said Mayorga.
He mentioned that the one that for more than a month has been talking about the protocols and until today there is no endorsed one.
Companies insist that the economy is reactivated soon
According to the heads of the Chamber of Commerce, small businesses are going to start to open because lack of income is already pressing them.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Jorge Hasbún, mentioned this week that the economy is going to open up to whatever it takes, either with protocols in an orderly or disorderly way.
Hernández, for his part, says that people are going to start looking for their livelihood.
“This is easy to understand, I don’t know who has thought that there is a high percentage of Salvadorans who can afford to be locked up at home, there are people who eat what they are going to look for in the day,” said Hernández.
The fear is that the economy will reactivate in a disorderly way because people have the need to go out looking for income.
He stated that as a business sector they understand that it is a delicate health situation and that the corresponding preventive measures must be taken.
For its part, the Association of Distributors of El Salvador, (ADES), stated through its Twitter account that the country needs a plan to gradually reactivate the economy.
“The country must have a plan that takes care of the health of Salvadorans and allows the economy to be gradually reactivated. We can work without getting sick, thus avoiding the closure of more companies and unemployment in El Salvador, ”ADES published.
They urge that with biosecurity care, it is possible to work without infecting and in this way impacts such as lack of food can be stopped.
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