Ice Cream Vendors Facing Poverty Due To Lockdown

The summer season is a busy time for ice cream vendors, who are a familiar sight on Kuwait roads, offering a range of tasty treats to those suffering from the heat. The season is an opportunity for them to earn their livelihood especially as work significantly decreases during the cold winter months, reports Al Qabas daily. However, this year, the coronavirus crisis forced them to halt working as Kuwait Government ordered a lockdown, and a curfew, severely limiting their customers.

It was as if the recession season occurred for them twice this year. On the news of the start of the fourth stage, the owners of ice cream carts are joyful, and hopeful to make up for the losses they incurred by hitting the pavement to garner as much business as possible.

Al-Qabas daily reports that they were prevented from selling ice creams and water in the past few days, this was while government agencies were working part-time, and their customers wanted refreshments such as ice cream and water.

Despite the work ban, Al-Qabas spotted some ice cream vendors who went out to work, and interviewed them to find out how they dealt with the current crisis. They revealed the difficulty they face in terms of financial hardship during the halt of their work.

Muhammad Zakaria stated that he has been sitting at home for more than three months, and he has no income since that time, and “it has become difficult.” He said, “Going back to work despite the ban is a great risk, but the difficult situation has forced us to do so,” and pointed out that selling water and ice cream to visitors at a government agency “is considered a help to them.”

Ali Al-Sayed added that his presence is not a challenge to laws and regulations, but “no one told us that our business should stop,” and pointed out that “many carts and food trucks operate, and we are also licensed sellers from ice cream companies, and we sell their products and try to comply with health requirements.”

Ice cream sellers face a huge dilemma, as they are unable to sustain themselves and their families during the work ban. Their carts, which they get with the guarantee from companies or a percentage of sales, have become useless, following the precautions taken by the authorities against the coronavirus pandemic, which forced them to abstain from working more than 3 months ago, and so they have fallen into poverty.

The vendors, who earn about KD10 per day see that their business is similar to those of groceries and will not be a risk of spreading the coronavirus infection, as they adhere to the health precautions in place including wearing masks, constantly sterilizing their hands and selling only packaged products.

 

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