Covid-19 Crisis: Jhalakathi shitol pati weavers crying for help

It is the peak time of earning profit from selling shitol pati (cool mat)  but the weavers here cannot sell a single piece of shitol pati due to ongoing countrywide shutdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The weavers make the patis and store them throughout the year for selling them at different fairs in summer as they get fair price during that time but this year, the item made for sale during the fairs remain largely unsold due to ban on gatherings to check the infection. As a result, the sufferings of the shitol pati weavers are increasing day by day.

A wholesaler of Hailakathi village in Rajapur upazila said he collects the mats from the weavers round the year and usually sells them in Chittagong and Sylhet during the hot weather.

He spent all his savings for the business but yet to sell a single piece of shitol pati due to the countrywide shutdown, said the wholesaler.

Around 400 people in the upazila are directly involved in weaving shitol pati and their survival depends on the summer season's sale, said Swapan Patigar, secretary of Hailakathi-Daharshankor Shitol Pati Development Samity of Rajapur in Jhalakathi.

Each family of the community has been passing their days in financial hardship as they have taken loan from different NGOs and banks for making the mats during winter season, but they are yet to sell a single piece of shitol pati due to the shutdown, said he said, adding that even the weavers now do not know how they will repay the loan.

Most of the weavers are now passing their days half-fed due to financial crisis but anyone is yet to come forward for their help, said Swapan.

Shekhor Patigar, a weaver of the village, said if the situation persists for next two months, they have to leave their forefather's profession.

"If we don't get enough support from the government, the traditional cool mat industry will be extinct," said Swapan.

Jhalakathi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Johor Ali said he ordered the upazila administration to support all the distressed people.

They will immediately support the weaver families with food, said the DC.