Traders protest outside of Narantuul Market
A group of traders demonstrated against the extended lockdown and closures of large markets and shopping center outside of Narantuul Market on Wednesday.
At -22 degrees Celsius, many of the protesters stood outside the empty market with signs that read: “Suspend loan interest”, “We shouldered 80 percent of the economic to this day”, “Stop demanding rent”, and “Traders are dying”. Most of them operated a small kiosk shop or run a trading booth at markets such as Narantuul.
“The government has extended the state of national disaster preparedness for another 10 days. This is destroying the lives of traders. Some are even considering suicide. No one is speaking out for them. Over 300,000 traders work in Mongolia. Including their children and family, more than 900,000 people’s livelihoods are at risk. Most traders have to repay loans from non-banking financial institutions an yet, they’re demanded to pay rent. The government reopened 19 types of services, including banking and financial and court organizations. However, since Tuesday, banks and financial organization has started demanding loan repayment and suing people,” said T.Enkhsaikhan, director of the Mongolian Traders’ Association.
Traders have been trying their best to cope and endure the strict lockdown since mid-November but a 10-day extension is a death row, said a protester, who operates a small Kiosk shop that earns 200,000 MNT per day on average and spends 180,000 MNT to procure goods.
The people who joined the demonstration said they have loans of up to 20 million MNT and don’t have savings to help them survive the lockdown. A couple of them said that they are being demanded to pay rent even though they have been closed for over two weeks.
Head of the Control and Organization Department of Narantuul Market A.Battulga told the press, “As of today (December 2), Narantuul’s extended food trade section and Bayalag-Undraa Shopping Center’s food section are operating. We didn’t charge rent for the duration of the lockdown. The average rent is 70,000 to 80,000 MNT. We wish for people not to demonstrate outside the facility without a permit.”