News
Small traders bombed out
Though over a month has passed since the barbaric ‘Easter Sunday’ terrorist suicide attacks, normalcy is yet to return to the community. Small-scale vendors and traders throughout the country have been among the hardest hit.
Bananas lying unattended and rotting in the sun
Colombo’s Manning Market in Pettah generally teeming with people, and one of the busiest markets in the country, is but a pale shadow of itself.
In the aftermath of the ‘Easter Sunday’ suicide attacks many people have tended to avoid the place due to security concerns regarding crowded places. This has had a devastating effect on vendors.
Mohammed Niyaz (52) sits at his banana boutique but his customers are few and far between
The stock of rotting bananas rotting in the noonday sun is but one symbol of the situation the traders have been facing. bananas can’t be kept for more than 2-3 days and the lack of customers mean that many bunches simply go to waste.
Vendors say custom is down by as much as 60-70 percent. Though, some customers are gradually returning, business is still well below the level it used to be.
Loads of bananas everywhere, but no customers in sight
Retail seller Mohammed Niyaz (52) said while there are some customers during the day, the market almost completely empties after 5.00 pm.
Elsewhere in the country, the situation is similar. A banana seller at a roadside stall in Anuradhapura related an almost similar story, customers are few and far between, and the vendors live in the hope that their lost clientele return, the sooner
the better.
The stall are stocked and ready but takers are few