Chairman of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Rivers and Bayelsa States, Senator Adawari Pepple, has said government should have a plan for manufacturing sector to prevent businesses from going under the current lockdown.
Speaking in an interview, Senator Pepple said the current lockdown was a challenge to businesses saying meeting financial obligations for the month of April was a “very big challenge”.
He said government should provide palliatives for manufacturing sector to ease their operations.
The business leader said: “There must be a plan toward making sure that businesses don’t go under because the rate of crime is going to shoot up beyond anybody’s contemplation”.
He said under the lockdown raw materials used to produce essential goods should be allowed into Rivers State.
The business leader said that a lot of security operatives would not know that essential goods were not just essential goods saying that raw materials go into the production of essential goods.
He said that not every essential good come in as finished product.
The business leader said: “There are raw materials that the manufacturer needs to produce goods. They don’t know that for you to have water that you need first bottles. You need the bags”.
In earlier interview, the business leader said coronavirus and lockdown was having negative impact on Rivers’ State economy.
He said: “It is having a negative impact on the economy. When you restrict movement of people that means business is being slowed down. People whose business it is to transport people are being affected so it is impacting negatively on the economy”.
He said the coronavirus pandemic was also having impact on global economy.
If the coronavirus is having impact on state economy, it is also having impact on global economy, he maintained.
The business leader also said that the coronavirus and lockdown was affecting average market woman.
