KARACHI: The finance ministry has set up a 7-member committee to evaluate and assess the losses to property and merchandise of the traders, whose shops and godowns were gutted in the Ashura day violence.
The committee, led by Zubair Motiwala, will also disburse the cheques of the compensation amount among the affectees. District coordination officer and a nominee of the ministry of finance along with Motiwala will be the signatories for the cheques.
These decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin with representatives of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and businessmen at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The other members of the committee are Ahmed Chinoy, A. Q. Khalil, Abdul Majeed Haji Mohammad, DCO, finance minister’s nominee and the town nazim.
KCCI president Abdul Majid said that the chamber will distribute the cheques to the traders instead of any provincial or federal government department.
The committee will scrutinise the claims of the traders in the presence of the nominees of the market associations, he added.
He said that Shaukat Tarin had informed the businessmen that Rs3 billion Victims Fund had been set up and the amount would be remitted to the fund by Monday.
The finance minister said that the affectees would also get an interest free loan of over Rs2 million without any collateral on case to case basis to as support for a period of three years.
Plastic Market shops
The masonry work for re-construction of shops in Plastic Market on M. A. Jinnah Road is in full swing as traders intend to resume their business from Monday.
According to traders City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has hired services of the Water and Sewerage Board contractors for quick rebuilding of the affected shops. The contractors pledged to speed up repair work to make the shops ready for Monday.
They said that traders had already initiated repair work on their own but the city nazim had visited the market and issued instructions to expedite the work on the spot.
President Boulton Market Traders Association Asif Rasheed said that initially, the shopkeepers located at the ground flour will start business from Monday afternoon.
He reiterated that sales operations had been going on as supplies were being managed directly from the factories to the buyers. There would be no shortage of plastic items in the markets, he added.
The Plastic Market building, which was burnt on the Ashura day by miscreants, presents a horrible view to the visitors and there is no surety about its stability in future despite the on-going repair and reconstruction work.
When asked about the life span of the main Plastic Market building comprising of 285 shops, which was set ablaze twice, he claimed that the KBCA officials had checked the market on Friday and gave a green signal for its repairs.
The construction of market began in 1978 and the first shop was opened in 1982. In Sept, 1998, it was set on fire.
Before construction, the contractors laid a deep foundation for a 12-13- storey building ensuring its strength, he added.
He said all members of the market are submitting the details regarding losses and nature of business directly to the city government instead of filling the survey forms of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
Meanwhile, KCCI President Abdul Majid Haji Mohammad said that the chamber had received 466 survey forms in the last few days from all the traders, including the affectees of the Plastic Market.
A joint desk of the KCCI and Police was set up on Dec 31 at the chamber to facilitate the victims to lodge FIRs and submit claims against their losses.
The survey form seeks details from the traders like actual loss of property and merchandise, sales tax and income tax details and information regarding nature of ownership of the shop whether rented or on goodwill basis, along with a copy of CNIC.
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