Owners of the suspended shops in the compounds of pagodas in Yangon Region are grumbling about their daily hardships as those religious edifices where they earn their living are still closed.
Most of the shops in the com-pounds or along the entrance ways or stairways of the pagodas are handicraft works and outlets, gold foil workshops, cultural artifact shops, and flower and candle shops, and till now the holy buildings are still closed and people are staying at home under the directives issued by Yangon Region Government as a prevention against the virus. As the shopkeepers have no income, they are facing financial problems even in buying basic food items. Business change at this time is not possible as COVID-19 has brought most of the industries to a standstill. So, they are worried about their long-term survival.
“We have a family of five, and we all are engaging in glass mosaic business at a shop we ran at a place beside the stairways of Shwedagon Pagoda. We have no work and no income as the pagoda is closed, but we have to pay the shop rental fee. In this ward, we all are relying on the Shwedagon Pagoda for our livelihood. We have no idea what to do next if the situation lingers, and besides, we have no knowledge of another profession, so it is not possible for use to find an alternative job,” said U Toe Win, a glass mosaic shop owner of a ward near the eastern stairways of the pagoda.
All the famous pagodas in Yan-gon Region including Shwedagon Pagoda, Botahtaung Pagoda, Bud-dha’s Tooth Relic Pagoda and Kaba Aye Pagoda are still closed as the COVID-19 infection is still running high. As the local government has no reopening plan yet people relying on these sacred buildings are facing social hardships, and worried about the uncertain future as the virus is unpredictable.