Gul Plaza owners cry foul

Demand eight months' rent, reconstruction timeline; say they got no relief

KARACHI:

The Gul Plaza Owners Association (GPOA) has demanded eight months' rent for the owners of 850 shops and called on the Sindh government to announce a timeline for the reconstruction of Gul Plaza.

GPOA Chairman Muhammad Ismail, President Yaqoob Sand and General Secretary Arif Qadri levelled the allegations at a press conference on Wednesday. They said the owners of the 850 shops affected by the tragedy had been ignored. Reconstruction of the plaza had yet to begin despite eight months having passed.

Qadri alleged that the fire at Gul Plaza was a deliberate act of sabotage. He said the provincial government had arranged compensation for the victims through the KCCI. Of the Rs8.5 billion fund allocated for the purpose, Rs5.35 billion had been distributed among victims and tenant shopkeepers, but the owners of Gul Plaza shops had received no relief.

He said Gul Plaza had first caught fire in 2016, destroying 21 shops. The shop-owning victims of the Gul Plaza tragedy had yet to be compensated for their losses.

Ismail said the KCCI had failed to represent shop owners. He said the owners had been left on the streets and had yet to receive any financial assistance. He alleged that the 850 original stakeholders of Gul Plaza had been excluded from the compensation process.

Sand said the value of the shops at Gul Plaza was estimated at Rs200b. He alleged that the provincial govt had distributed compensation among the victims without a proper strategy. Of the 1,200 shops, only tenants had received relief, while the owners of 850 shops are suffering. He said all shop owners were registered with the FBR.