Beran restaurateurs: Our existence is threatened, the NKT's decision is discriminatory

Restaurateurs from Beran protested today due to the decision of the National Coordinating Body for Infectious Diseases (NKT) to extend the ban on the operation of bars in the territory of that municipality until July 30, claiming that this threatens their bare existence.

Yesterday, the NKT extended until July 30 the application of the ban on catering activities in catering establishments (restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, hotel restaurants and similar catering establishments), including the provision of catering services at swimming pools and beaches in the municipalities: Berane, Bijelo Polje, Petnjica, Pljevlja and Rožaje.

After the protest, they sent letters to the NKT, the President of the Municipality Dragoslav Šćekić and the MP Bogdan Fatić, from whom they demand an immediate reaction.

In the letter sent to the NKT, they also cited statistical data, according to which there is one person infected with the coronavirus in Berane for every 311 inhabitants.

They explain that the decision to ban the operation of catering facilities in Berane is discriminatory, because, as they state, in the cities where the statistics are worse, the establishments are working properly.

They told the NKT members that they do not agree with their decision, for the reason that, as they claim, it is not based on the criteria they took for every other municipality.

"In fact, the decisive criterion is the number of infected persons in relation to the number of inhabitants of the municipality. According to that criterion, there are many municipalities in front of us that are allowed to work. Budva has one infected person per 219 inhabitants. Kotor has one infected person per 302 inhabitants. Tivat has one infected person. per 219 inhabitants. Cetinje has one infected person per 220 inhabitants. Berane has one infected person per 311 inhabitants. Nikšić has one infected person per 381 inhabitants. At least one infected person per 390 inhabitants. Given that Berane is a rural municipality and that the population is living like this , about 100 of us restaurateurs with families are financially and socially threatened, as are the families of our workers, so we think we have the same right to work as restaurateurs in Podgorica and on the coast. Therefore, please explain your decision to us, reconsider it and Please accept our request because it concerns so many families and people who have been left without any income," the letter from Beran restaurateurs to NKT states.

In the letter to Šćekić, they state that although they know that he is not competent to impose measures due to the coronavirus, with which the NKT extended the ban on the operation of all catering facilities in the territory of the municipality of Berane until July 30, 2020, they are turning to him to help them, because, as they claim, the imposition of these measures unfairly and discriminatoryly determined by the municipality of Berane, as well as that the bare existence of all catering workers and their families is threatened by the measures.

"The measures were extended only to the municipalities of Berane, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja and Petnjica, contrary to the statistical data provided by the Institute for Public Health of Montenegro (IJZCG). This is because according to the data of the IJZCG, Budva has one infected person per 219 inhabitants. Kotor has one infected per 302 inhabitants. Tivat has one infected person per 219 inhabitants. Cetinje has one infected person per 220 inhabitants. Berane has one infected person per 311 inhabitants. Nikšić has one infected person per 381 inhabitants. At least there is one infected person per 390 inhabitants," state Beran restaurateurs in a letter to Šćekić .

They add that these data clearly show that the measures imposed by the NKT discriminate Beran restaurateurs compared to other restaurateurs in Montenegro, which, as they state, is clearly established from the data.

"Given that we have been in a difficult economic situation since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic, because our catering facilities, which are our only source of income, are not working, we ask you, as the president of all citizens of Beran, to contact the NKT in order to cancel these measures, because otherwise they may lead to incalculable social and financial consequences for the families of the owners of around 100 catering facilities as well as the families of the workers who work in them. We hope that you will meet us and contact the NKT", they said in the letter to Šćekić.