KARACHI: Over 10,000 people have lost their jobs because of a blaze that gutted between 2,000 and 3,000 shops located between Light House and Boulton Market in the old city area on Monday, causing an estimated loss of Rs30 billion.
“Thousands will have nothing to do on Wednesday when they return to markets. They were employed in shops destroyed when certain elements reacted violently after the suicide attack on the Ashura procession,” a shop-owner in the affected locality told Dawn on Tuesday.
About an equal number of people, indirectly associated with the shops, would also be either out of work or face difficulty in finding new work for some time.
Most shops in the area were on ‘pagri’ system, instead of full-fledged ownership. They were also not insured.
Initial estimates of losses were about Rs30 billion, but traders were still updating figures in the hope of getting compensation after Interior Minister Rahman Malik set up a Boulton Market Victims’ Fund on Tuesday with the help of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
The affected shopkeepers cried at a meeting held at the KCCI with Mr Malik. Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar was also present.
KCCI President Abdul Majid Haji Mohammad said that survey forms had been given to the affected shopkeepers to file details of losses, nature of business, ownership, rent and pagri, CNIC and income tax details.
“These details will be provided to Nadra to ascertain whether the claims are genuine before payment of compensation,” he said.
He said the interior minister did not mention the amount of the fund as he was waiting for the prime minister’s approval.
The KCCI president said that more than 10,000 people working in the shops had lost their jobs.
He, however, recalled that the government had not compensated the traders who had suffered heavy losses on Dec 27, 2007, after the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and destruction of the plastic market by a fire a few years ago.
“Only those companies or units were compensated which were insured,” he added. It is difficult to predict the impact on the supply of various items, including medicines, plastic, paper and artificial jewellry, to the retail market after the devastation. Traders said that supply would definitely be hit, especially of plastic and medicines.
Mohammad Ilyas, owner of Chandna Opticals at Light House which was burnt to ashes, said his shop was not insured but the setting up of the fund gave him some hope of getting compensation for his loss.
The chairman of the Old City Traders’ Alliance, Mohammad Jamil Paracha, said the government should rebuild the shops or provide a sufficient amount to the owners for reconstruction.
He said that although most of the shops were on a pagri basis, the shopkeepers were paying taxes and, therefore, there was no question of coming into the tax net after seeking compensation.
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