AMMAN — The
Jordanian Union of Restaurants and Confectionery Proprietors asked the
government anew to accept that they raise prices, as despite the many promises
made by the government, they have not received an answer either way yet.
اضافة اعلان
Due to the fact that the
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply is not responding to its demands, the union is asking for another
meeting with the Senate Public Services Committee to inform it of the changes
the sector has undergone.
Omar Al-Awwad, the head of the Jordanian Union of
Restaurants and Confectionery Proprietors, said a prompt response to the union
demands will help revive the sector, “which has been suffering from stagnation
for a long time”.
He told
Jordan News that “a large number of
restaurants have closed and laid off their employees, due to their inability to
bear more burdens” , indicating that the number “is expected to increase during
the coming period if the government fails to provide solutions to support the sector”.
Awwad emphasized that there is a significant,
“approximately 70-80 percent”, decline in the restaurant business.
Many factors contributed to this, he said, naming a
few: “The purchasing power of citizens has become weak, priorities have
changed, and there is reluctance to go to restaurants due to the difficult
economic conditions.”
“These factors, in addition to the significant
increase in the prices of raw materials, contributed to the sector incurring
bigger losses, which requires us to find solutions to help this sector stand on
its feet again,” he said.
Raed Hamada, representative of the restaurant sector
at the
Jordan Chamber of Commerce, and owner of Hamada Restaurant, told
Jordan
News that “we support the union’s demands to raise prices, in view of the
serious losses the sector has been incurring”.
According to him, “the government is pushing this
sector toward either closing restaurants and laying off employees, or resorting
to fraud and using lower quality materials”.
“The prices of basic items used in restaurants have
risen by a large percentage, especially due to the
Russian war on Ukraine,” he
said, adding that “if the government does not want to allow restaurants to
raise their prices, it must at least subsidize basic items. In the end, we are
citizens, and we feel with the citizens and we do not want to raise prices, but
we are going through difficult circumstances and we need support.” he added.
“Raising prices and maintaining the use of excellent
quality materials is much better than resorting to poor quality raw materials,”
he said.
“Some restaurants resort to using the same frying
oils more than once, which causes them to be hydrogenated and thus become
carcinogenic. This is due to the high prices of oil, which nowadays reached
some JD32 per 4 liters,” added Hamada.
Yanal Barmawi, official spokesman of the Ministry of
Industry, Trade and Supply told
Jordan News that “there are no
developments in this regard, and the minister maintains the statements he made
some time ago”.
Minister Youssef Al-Shamali had said that
traditional restaurants have a margin of profit despite the increase in global
prices. He also stressed that the ministry was ready to reconsider the price
lists and direct the Cabinet to take a decision in this regard if any restaurant
provides evidence that it is experiencing losses.
Shamali had said that the ministry had met with
union representatives and re-examined the prices, and found that they made a
profit despite the high global prices.
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