by Staff Writer

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) has welcomed the decision by Government to reopen industry saying that the balanced review of lockdown measures by President Emmerson Emmerson Mnangagwa came at a time when industry was struggling to sustain its operations and opening up the economy was overdue.

Welcoming the development, CZR President, Denford Mutashu said that the measured lockdown extension had eased business operations and this review would certainly play a significant role in injecting life into various businesses.

“The fact that exemption letters are no longer required is a great move towards smoothening movement of essential service providers and goods and services.

“Reopening of bottles stores serving only takeaways is sweet news to imbibers and is very strategic in serving operations of breweries and the more than 20 000 bottles across the country whose employees were getting retrenched,” he said.

According to the lockdown review, SMEs and food markets will now open guided by World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols. As such, CZR implored Government through relevant ministries to be proactive and set out these guidelines and ensure that they are adhered to.

“Going forward there is also need to operationalize a stimulus package for informal sector and SMEs who have been closed for a long time as some used up their capital to keep them going during lockdown,” he added.

In a statement, CZR also urged its members and fellow retailers and wholesalers to continue adhering to strict COVID-19 prevention measures for industry to revert back to normalcy.