LAHORE: The Lahore chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) will take-up the issue of Anakarli fire incident affectees with the Punjab government for early payment of compensation.
This was stated by LCCI Ijaz A. Mumtaz while talking to a delegation of Anarkali fire incident affectees here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mian Shabbir Ahmed, Mateen-ur-Rehman, Farrukh Akhlaq, President of Anjuman-e-Tajran Auto parts Badami Bagh & LCCI Executive Committee Member Waqar Ahmed Mian and President Anjuman-e-Tajran Ashraf Bhatti also spoke on the occasion.
Ijaz A Mumtaz said that tragic Anarkali incident not only claimed over a dozen precious lives but also incurred loss of over Rs 63 million to the traders. “The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry is well aware of the difficulties being faced by the affectees of Anarkali and would make all out efforts for early payment of compensation. Punjab government should early payments to the traders so that they could restart their businesses,” said the LCCI President.
He said that repeated fire incidents in different parts of the cities have also exposed weak control of the government departments which have failed to ensure proper implementation of rules & regulations. He said that had the authorities concerned ensured proper fire exit in the Anarkali Plaza, the volume of the damage would have been much smaller. Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that Lahore had become a hub of commercial activities but never every due attention was given towards upgradation of fire fighting facilities to control the situation in case of such incidents.
He said that the government should install fire Hydrants at the market places which are inaccessible for fire tenders to avoid future mishaps. He said that despite various fire incidents took place in the country during last one decade, no concrete measures had been taken. He said that although it is the government’s task to put Hydrants in inaccessible market places but in case of financial constraints at government level, the private sector should also contribute.
He said that the massive devastation caused by the huge fire could have been averted if the concerned government departments had performed their duties properly and ensured implementation of rules and regulations.
