Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) has urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to intervene and end the crisis, criticizing the ongoing raids on restaurant businesses as excessive and ineffective.

“Our meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is very crucial at this moment. Our restaurant business will be destroyed unless the prime minister interferes to this end,” said Imran Hasan, general secretary of the Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association, on Tuesday (March 5).

While addressing a press conference at BROA’s Bijoynagar office in Dhaka on Tuesday, Imran said, “Unrest is underway against the restaurant business in the name of raids because we are being asked for licenses to use gas cylinders. Why should we need a cylinder license? We are consumers of gas cylinders, not traders.”

He blamed some dishonest officials for harassing them in the name of raids and said the restaurant business is being pushed to the brink of collapse serving the interest of a group of corporate businessmen.

Imran said at least 40 restaurants in Dhaka have been closed, despite 12 of them possessing licenses. “We have to run our business by managing dishonest officials in exchange for money. It is nothing but harassment,” he said.

He also underscored the need for forming a task force consisting of members from relevant government agencies, and restaurant and building owners to monitor irregularities in the restaurant business.

BROA's President Md Osman Gani, Vice President Shah Sultan Khokon, Joint Secretary General Feroz Alam Sumon and Organising Secretary Taufiqul Islam, among others, were present at the press conference.

According to the BROA, there are 4.81 lakh restaurants in the country, employing directly and indirectly around 30 lakh people in this sector.

BDST: 2023 HRS, MAR 05, 2024
MN/SMS