KARACHI – Several traders of the Boulton Market, whose shops were set ablaze soon after the Ashura blast in 2009, have become millionaires as they have received dual compensation, sources have informed Pakistan Today.
On the one hand, the government has provided them with Rs 1.50 billion as compensation to the affectees of the Boulton Market; on the other hand, the United States Consulate has also distributed cash among the victims.
The US Consulate received a list of the victims, which was prepared by a committee of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and distributed more than Rs 1.5 billion in cash among the affected traders.
On December 28, 2009, several shops were set ablaze by miscreants at the Boulton Market immediately after a bomb blast. The KCCI committee has handed out compensation ranging between Rs 100,000 and Rs 5 million to each victim whose shop was reduced to ashes. The federal and Sindh governments had announced a minimum relief package of about Rs 3.5 billion to support the affectees.
However, the KCCI committee consulted the affected traders and their representatives, discussed the loss with each and every victim and worked out the compensation of Rs 1.5 billion. “We faced a lot of difficulty in finalising the compensation claims as several shopkeepers had provided us with the wrong amount of losses,” KCCI committee convener AQ Khalil told Pakistan Today.
“The task of compensation was extremely difficult, but we called every victim in the presence of the members of the committee and estimated the losses, nature of the business, turnover, income, etc, and then finalised the amount of compensation,” he said. He also confirmed the US Consulate had provided separate compensation directly to the victims.
The US officials received a list of the victims, but they did not share the compensation mechanism with the KCCI with regard to how much amount the consulate had handed over to the traders, he added.
The Boulton Market is one of the oldest markets of Pakistan that was established before the partition, and comprises various buildings spread over a square kilometre. It is considered as the primary wholesale market in Karachi that caters to all the country’s requirements of wholesale and retail markets.
The fire damaged shops and portions of the 29 buildings that were the hub of trade in plastic goods, industrial raw materials, household items, shoes, perfumes, cosmetics, tobacco, blankets, second-hand garments, etc. The monthly turnover of the trade is in billions of rupees.
Khalil said that the Businessmen Group of the KCCI had demanded a relief fund of Rs 3 billion for the affectees in meetings with the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Dr Farooq Sattar.
However, when the KCCI committee ascertained the total amount of losses, the amount of compensation was reduced to Rs 1.5 billion, he added.
