Most hotels, restaurants closed in Pokhara, tourists stranded   MANOJ ADHIKARI POKHARA, Jan. 9: An overwhelming majority of hotels and restaurants in the tourist city of Pokhara were shut down Friday owing to the ongoing agitation by Maoist-affiliated workers who are demanding salary adjustment in accordance with the minimum salary set by the government. Following the closure, all shops in Lakeside pulled down their shutters citing minimum tourist movement. Many tourists remain stranded in the western city. Most tourists have left Pokhara after food and accommodation became scarce. Distraught business operators have threatened to shut down all the small and big restaurants and hotels if the dispute is not resolved immediately. On Friday morning, dozens of tourists were stranded at the local tourist buspark owing to scarcity of bus tickets. They were loitering around the buspark seeking travel tickets to head for Bhairahawa, Chitwan or Kathmandu. On Friday alone, about 500 tourists left Pokhara, according to Bacchu Tiwari, president of Pokhara Tourist Council. “If this situation continues for a couple of days more, there will be no tourist left in Pokhara,” he told myrepublica.com. Owing to scarcity of food, some tourists were resting on the roadside Friday morning eating bananas. The Maoist- affiliated trade union has stopped work for the past three days demanding the minimum salary of Rs 4,600 set by the government. The hoteliers here themselves advised tourists to shorten their visit after being unable to provide them with food and lodging facilities. Tourists who were scheduled to arrive here have also cancelled bookings, said Govinda Pahari, chairman of Regional Hotel Association. Hoteliers said some tourists left the hotels cursing the government and the hoteliers. The situation deteriorated after workers padlocked offices of several tourism-related organizations Tuesday including the Regional Hotel Association, Pokhara Hotel Assocaition, Pokhara Tourism Council, and Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal. Business operators have urged workers to create and environemnt conducive for talks, and have stated that they have taken the workers’ demands with seriousness. However, they have said they cannot provide salary like other businesses do as the workers of hotels and restaurants are provided food and lodging too.

no_quiero · Jan 10, 2009 1:59 AM