Gold traders have called for the immediate lifting of restrictions at the causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

They also issued an urgent plea for concessions to help kickstart the industry, which has suffered badly following the unrest.

The demands were made to Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro as he visited the Gold Suq in Manama.

His tour came at the invitation of traders, who wanted to impress upon him the difficulties they were facing as a result of the situation in the last six weeks.

Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) gold and pearl jewellery committee head Mohammed Sajid Shaikh said although businesses had reopened more than a week ago, they would not get back on track until the King Fahad Causeway opened for unrestricted movement.

'More than 80 per cent of our business is wholesale trade and most of our wholesale customers come from across the causeway,' he told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN) after the minister's visit.

'Since movement across the causeway is restricted, we are the ones who are suffering the most.

'While it is true that more local customers have started to come to the area, we will continue to suffer until we get overseas customers.'

Shaikh earlier said jewellery businesses had suffered losses of at least $1 million (BD377,000) a day as the suq remained closed for a week earlier this month.

'Some of the concerns that we had since we reopened have been addressed and this includes the security situation,' he said.

'There is more visible security and that is encouraging. Local footfall has also increased and people are seen in the area, with a lot of expatriates shopping.'

Shaikh said the minister was also made aware of other concerns including the freezing of levies and fees as well as a temporary halt to loan repayments.

'We were told His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa is already looking at the levies issue, but the minister also said he would take steps to speak with banks to reschedule loan repayments.

'The minister also assured us the government would do everything possible to address concerns of all traders and take steps to ensure that life came back on track as soon as possible.'

Shaikh said more than 15,000 people were involved in the gold and jewellery trade in Bahrain. Around 4,000 are goldsmiths while the rest are associated with the other sectors of the industry.

'There are also around 600 gold and jewellery shops in the country, with half of them situated in the Manama area,' said Shaikh.-TradeArabia News Service