Reduced curfew hours bring sigh of relief to many businesses

AMMAN — Business sector representatives have welcomed a government decision to reduce curfew by four hours as of the first day of Eid Al Fitr.

Last Sunday, the government announced that curfew hours would be reduced from the first day of Eid Al Fitr, as the country is witnessing a considerable drop in the number of coronavirus cases and fatalities. 

Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh issued a circular based on the Defence Order to ease the measures. According to the new decision, curfew begins from 11pm to 6am for public movement and 10pm to 6am for businesses, except for establishments whose working hours are dictated otherwise by the prime minister. 

The government said that this decision is incorporated within the framework of the safe, gradual measures that the government takes according to the epidemiological situation. The aim is to reach a safe summer with the reopening of most sectors.

The government affirmed that it would continue to strike a balance between preserving public health and sustaining economic activities.

Abdallah Darawi, a pharmacy owner, told The Jordan Times that he was delighted to hear about this decision although it was a late one.

“This decision will highly benefit all business sectors, as it will give us more time to work and regain the losses incurred by the curfew. This is especially true for businesses that usually thrive during summer,” Darawi said.

“This decision will allow me to bring back my night shift employees and thus spend more quality time with my family,” he added.

Mohmmad Qoutadah, an owner of a clothing store, told The Jordan Times that this decision will help a lot of merchants in the sector.

“One of the main reasons behind the decrease of our sales was the traffic, however, now people will have more time to buy clothes which will have a huge effect on our sales,” Qoutadah said.

He added that he is “very happy with this decision, especially since most of my clients prefer coming at night after their working hours”.

Moutaz Ameen, a marketing manager at a local restaurant, said that this decision will boost the economy and help a lot of sectors.

“I believe that this decision will bring the economy back to life. I hope that after this decision sales in my restaurant will increase,” Ameen noted.

“Although delivery services were available during the partial lockdown, the demand was not as high as expected. Hopefully after this decision things will get back to normal,” he said.