DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Restaurant’s owners in the Syrian capital, Damascus, expressed their dissatisfaction of the decision to prevent holding Christmas and New Year’s parties for this year, due to the outbreak of coronavirus, saying it is “an attempt to take bribes.”
On November 18, the Syrian Ministry of Tourism issued a decision in which it prevented holding Christmas and New Year’s parties for the current year, due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
The ministry requested its directorates in the governorates “not to grant approvals for concerts and parties in the tourist facilities during the Christmas and New Year.”
Abdullah Abu Mahmoud, a pseudonym for an owner of a restaurant in Old Damascus, said, “The decision is very unjust, especially since the suspension of work for more than two months during the previous complete lockdown, has caused great damage to both the owners and the workers of the restaurants.”
“We needed a lot of time and effort to rise again, and we were also affected by the sudden prices hikes, in addition to the few number of customers. We were looking forward to some profits during Christmas and New Year, but unfortunately the parties were prevented,” He told North Press.
In mid-March, the Syrian government imposed a full lockdown which lasted until the beginning of June, as a precautionary measure to confront coronavirus.
Abu Mahmoud was surprised by what he described as an “exaggeration in the excessive check of the restaurants tourist facilities,” as if coronavirus has only spread in restaurants.
“What about public buses, and queues in front of government bakeries and consumer institutions? What about schools and universities? Either they must take measures for everyone, or let us do our business and earn our income like others,” he wondered.
“The new decision does not make any sense, especially as we adhere to all preventative measures,” said Ma’an Makansi, a restaurant owner in the Muhajireen neighborhood in Damascus.
He added that all of his employees wear face masks during their working hours, the floors and tables are sterilized, the bathrooms are cleaned on a daily basis, the customers are provided with sterilizers and the tables are distributed by leaving a sufficient distance between them.
“Restaurants are now places that are much safer from the virus than others, in light of the preventative measures we are adhering to,” Makansi added.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ghayath al-Farah, had told a local radio that restaurants and tourist facilities would not be closed. Rather, the ban would be limited to public concerts and parties.
The previous decisions stipulated restrictions for the work of these facilities, such as providing sterilizers and a commitment to 50% occupancy regarding the closed restaurants, and the restriction of investing 40% of the open halls.