More than thirty bars in Breda will intentionally remain open for 45 minutes longer than allowed by Corona rules on Saturday in protest. Fred Braikan, the owner of the cafe replies: “What would you do if you didn’t have your salary for nineteen months?”. He is tired of cabinet choices and therefore wants to take action. The municipality supports this measure and provides space for catering establishments to make this statement.
Although the catering industry will have to deal with a number of coronavirus relaxations on Saturday, it is not enough for many entrepreneurs. Because although they can now receive a lot of guests again, the limited opening time is a problem. “If at twelve o’clock every café in Breda had to throw out guests all of a sudden, you have 15,000 to 20,000 people on the street. Things can’t go well. Tensions are bound to arise. But the corona ticket also causes misunderstandings.” Why does it suddenly stop working after twelve o’clock?”
“The mayor and an alderman understand our pain”
Fred spoke on behalf of the 32 bars that joined the protest. He and a number of other entrepreneurs have been in contact with the municipality. They came together until a quarter past one in the morning. The municipality asserts that “everyone should be gone by then”. “This agreement has been clarified with the owners and we are confident it will be followed.”
Fred replies: “Mayor Paul Debla and Alderman Boaz Adanek understand our pain very well. We are not angry with them either. The mayor has done his best for us during the whole Corona period. It is the Hague where something must change.”
question marks
It is incomprehensible to Fred and his fellow entrepreneurs why the cabinet-making food industry is only allowed to remain open until midnight. So with their protest they would stay open for 45 minutes longer, but if it was up to Fred, it would have been longer.
“Like the owners, we also have question marks over when to close at midnight and end concessions to the catering industry,” a municipal spokeswoman said. According to her, catering entrepreneurs “again nibbled on a sour apple and were left without perspective.” “It’s good that attention is now drawn to this in this way.”
More actions
It is not yet certain if there will be more action after Saturday. “It depends on The Hague,” says Fried. “If nothing changes, we will have to invent something else. If you have not had your salary for nineteen months, then something has to change.”
Horeca sticks to illegal reopening on January 17th and calls for massive reservations
Rebellious catering industry says to open terraces en masse in protest
This is what the stands looked like on a working day in the food industry in Brabant
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