News
Retailers take stock, and it’s back to business as usual
View(s):By Kasun Warakapitiya
Owners of grocery shops, eateries, and clothing stores in flooded areas are bearing financial losses and rebuilding their businesses.
Some are waiting for government support.
Many retailers had abandoned their goods and moved to higher ground when the Kelani River breached its banks on November 28 and caused floods in low-lying areas.
The roads are still muddy, while marks in the shops show the level of flooding.
One such shop is Kelanimulla Hotel, a small eatery, which was inundated. Sinnaiya Perumal Prakash, 39, the hotel operator, said that bags of rice and 300 eggs were among the items that were washed away in the flood. Cooking ingredients worth Rs 200,000 had also been lost.
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- Shop owners in Kaduwela getting back to business Pix by M A Pushpa Kumara
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- Nimsiki Super on Colombo Road, Biyagama – Bo Gaha Junction after the floods
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- A shop in Bandarawatte, Biyagama during and after the flood
“I was in the back room of this shop, which I operate under rent; during the night the flood happened. Water had reached the bed, and I had no time to clear the equipment or the kitchen appliances. I had just enough time to flee.’’
Mr Prakash said that he spent several days in a relative’s house in Kolonnawa until the floods receded to return to the shop.
He said it took him nearly four days to clear the mud and muck from the shop and restart his business. He is awaiting government relief of Rs 25,000.
The merchants of the Biyagama area too had to throw away damaged goods, while some tried to retrieve what they could by drying them in the sun.
The Sunday Times witnessed shops with empty shelves and supermarkets where the employees were cleaning the goods carts and dumping destroyed items.
Nalin Jayaratne, an owner of a medium-sized supermarket at Bogahamulla in Biyagama, said a seven-foot-high flood destroyed the goods.
He does not have insurance and must absorb the losses. According to him, it would take at least a couple of days to restock for reopening.
Mr Jayasinghe said he tried to save some goods on a five-foot-tall shelf, but that was of no use against the flooding.
Sumali Priyangika, who runs a grocery shop near Bandarawatta, said goods worth more than Rs 300,000 had been lost. She had to clean up, repair the generator and borrow Rs 100,000 to restock the shop with biscuits, bread and other grocery items.
Ms Priyangika said that no official had yet visited her shop to record her losses or to inform her about any support to rebuild her business.
A similar situation was observed at many other locations in the provinces.
The Gelioya town area near the Gampola-Kandy road is one of the worst affected. Grocery and clothing retailers lost their stocks to the flooding, the Sunday Times observed. The shops will have to be cleaned and restocked before reopening.
A resident who declined to be named recalled the destruction and said electricity was being restored to the shops.
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