Labourers force closure of 200 hotels and restaurants in Nepal

by Sanjay Jha | January 9, 2009 at 01:40 am

69 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

One of most visited tourist town's of Nepal is undergoing massive unrest. Nepal's tourist capital Pokhra has witnessed closure of all the restaurents, hotels, tourists bus services for last couple of days leaving the tourist stranded. The workers have gone on strike over the issue of minmum wage.

Some tourists have returned to capital Kathmandu while others are forced to rely on bakeries.

With food becoming a rare commodity due to the indefinite strike of hotel and restaurant workers, hundreds of tourists have started leaving the panoramic city of Pokhara.
CPN (Maoist)-aligned All Nepal Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union had announced the strike at most of the hotels and restaurants in Pokhara from Wednesday to pressure tourism entrepreneurs to pay each worker the government-fixed minimum monthly salary of Rs. 4,600.

Scores of tourists were seen gathering at Pokhara airport and the bus park. "I will leave for Chitwan tomorrow since we could not find food here," said a Japanese tourist who had plans to stay three more days in this panoramic city.

With the news of hotels' and restaurants' closure spreading fast, the arrival of tourists has dwindled and bookings too are being cancelled.

"A group of 10 Germans cancelled bookings citing unfavourable conditions," said Om Prasad Pandey, owner of Hotel Landmark. "Those who are in the hotel line are also facing difficulties. How can we run our businesses in a situation like this?"