Dear Editor,
This letter is a response to GHK Lall who sought to make out a case for the reversal of the clearance given by the COVID-19 National Task Force – for limited public indoor dining. In his missive carried in the Stabroek News edition of January 17, 2021, GHK Lall attempted to heavily criticize the Minister of Health for this move.
Lall is largely basing his argument on the 500 cases when school children were tested. While Lall’s concerns are not be shoved under the rug, the decision to gradually reopen the economy in general is also necessary. Guyana was beaten down with five months of political turmoil in 2020; coupled with the pandemic, the economic and financial impact were devastating to the hospitality and restaurant industry in particular. Many persons working in the industry became unemployed. It is almost ten months now since the owners of those businesses, the employees and the families who depended on the employment of those businesses, were out of business and unemployed. The sufferings and hardships, therefore, are unimaginable and this is not an overstatement.
Let’s put this into perspective. There are over 100 restaurants in Guyana. Let’s assume that each restaurant employs an average of 15 persons and pays an average salary of $60,000. This is a total of 1500 employees with total average monthly income of $90 million and loss of income distribution of over $1 billion annually. Put differently, we can safely say that more than1500 households have been affected and would have suffered income loss for the period. Then there is also the supply chain, the suppliers that supply the restaurants with goods and services that were affected owing to their closure – again the chain effect on the loss of income and jobs.
Globally, the restaurant industry has been severely affected. One has to acknowledge that the pandemic impact is twofold – that is, it is a health pandemic which has financial and economic repercussions which could also lead to the same social consequence in our society to that of economic depression at the household level. This can also be devastating. Therefore, it is imperative for policymakers, not only in Guyana but globally, to find ways to safely reopen the economy for business as the hard reality is such that the world now has to co-exist with the pandemic. The pandemic is not going anywhere anytime soon. So, should we stay in lockdown forever? Can we afford to be in lockdown forever? The answer is no.
Further to note, before I authored this piece – I did some homework. In this regard, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) would have strongly lobbied the Task Force for the reopening of the restaurants for months now against the aforesaid backdrop. However, before this request was approved, both agencies had to assure and convince the Task Force that they have developed due safety protocols to facilitate such reopening. These protocols were then subject to the approval of the COVID-19 Task Force before such decision was taken. As such, it was not an ad hoc or careless decision to allow 40% indoor dining by the Task Force. Further, the GTA and THAG were tasked with the responsibility to ensure compliance with the approved COVID-19 safety protocols.
Editor, to sum this up; indeed, one has to appreciate that the decision to safely reopen the restaurants and the economy generally is not an easy task. Yet, at the same time, such decision must be made, must be calculated and take into consideration the other important factors such as the economic and financial impact on households where over 1500 persons lost their jobs and over 100 restaurants risk going out of business. Permit me to conclude, therefore, by saying – commentators such as GHK Lall should not critique for the sake of critiquing, rather, constructive critiques focused on solutions for these complex issues will be much more helpful and in the interest of all stakeholders going forward.
For readers who are interested, JB Consultancy compiled a proposed strategy to safely help the tourism sector to recover. https://jbconsultancy.info/a-recovery-strategy-for-the-tourism-sector/.
Yours faithfully,
JC. Bhagwandin
Principal Consultant/Financial
Analyst
JB Consultancy & Associates
