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Mustafa Center will send home its foreign workers whose work passes have expired as their business has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company will also stop a “living allowance” for employees who have not been called to work – believed to be $ 300 a month – and urged this group of staff to take a second job for income.
In a letter addressed to all employees of the Mustafa group and its related companies, managing director and founder Mustaq Ahmad said that the company cannot renew the work passes of its foreign workers and will pay for their ticket back home.
It will give these foreign workers a symbolic sum of a month’s basic salary, he said in the letter dated last Thursday and seen yesterday by The Straits Times.
“We regret having to resort to these decisions, but we hope that business will return to normal as soon as possible,” he added.
The Mustafa group did not respond to ST about how many of its local and foreign employees are affected by the measures.
In the letter, Mustaq said the company will stop paying the living allowance, given to staff since June, starting October 1, as it needs to cut payroll costs.
Businesses have been badly affected by the coronavirus, he said, noting that not all employees are able to return to work due to reduced opening hours and strict safe distancing measures at the popular shopping center.
“We do not expect our business to go back to the pre-Covid days as our international borders are closed. It will take longer than expected,” he added.
A store manager, who did not want to be named, said business has plummeted to just 20 percent from pre-Covid-19 levels.
Tourists and foreign workers used to be the store’s main customer base, and “they have almost disappeared,” the manager said.
Mustaq, who noted that some employees have begun to find work elsewhere, said the company will waive notice periods for resignations and give those who quit a one-month base salary as a token of appreciation.
The company is also working with the Singapore Merchant and Manual Workers Union, the Institute for Employment and Employability and the National Trade Union Congress to help its staff find work, he said.
The problems at the six-story shopping center on Syed Alwi Road in Little India began after it was identified as a Covid-19 cluster and closed on April 2. It is believed to have been the starting point for thousands of infections in the dormitories of foreign workers.
The workers likely became infected after visiting the facility, where some employees had fallen ill, and set off a chain of infections between coworkers and roommates.
Mustafa Center reopened its doors on May 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily, intending to resume its 24-hour trademark operations shortly thereafter. But nearly four months later, the mall has failed to do so due to high operating costs and lack of cash flow due to downturn in business.
While there were still a few shoppers in the store when ST visited the Mustafa Center yesterday, it was noticeably less crowded, with no need to queue to enter the premises.
Sundays were typically the busiest days for Mustafa Center, with many foreign workers shopping there on their day off.
But this source of business has largely shut down, with the majority of dormitory workers confined to their rooms due to Covid-19.
Mustafa Center staff told ST yesterday that they don’t know which colleagues were going to be sent home, but added that the passage at the mall is a long way from what it used to be.
The manager said: “Without these tourists and foreigners, it is unlikely that we will be able to stay open or continue working for much longer.”
Other businesses in Little India, including restaurants, jewelry stores, money changers and textile stores, are also recovering from the impact of the pandemic.
K. Ramamoorthy, who runs an internet cafe, said many of his neighbors have closed and he fears his business is next.
“We are almost going to have to close soon because there are no tourists or foreign workers to pay us,” he said.
In May, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry established a task force to assist affected companies.
The chamber said on its Facebook page that it took a walk in the area on Saturday and plans to reach about 300 businesses by the end of next month to spread the word about the various support schemes and measures they can take advantage of.
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