DUSHANBE, September 7, 2012, Asia-Plus — Dushanbe mayor has promised that a new wholesale marketplace will be built on the site of the merchandise market ion the outskirts of Dushanbe that was seriously damaged by a deadly fire Wednesday evening.
Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev stated this yesterday during a meeting with vendors who lost their goods in Wednesday’s fire.
Under the municipal redevelopment plan, another facility was supposed to be built on the site of the Korvon merchandise market, but the mayor reportedly agreed to the construction of the wholesale marketplace on the site of the Korvon marketplace last year.
The mayor also noted that an investigation has been launched into the fire, whose cause remains unclear.
Ubaidulloyev also promised to arrange compensation and deals with local commercial banks to delay loan payments due by the vendors.
He also stressed that merchants did not know their rights and no one of them had concluded a contract with the market administration.
Ubaidulloyev also noted that the market owner Nurshed Mashrabov had escaped. “I do not know where he is now, but I promise that he will be brought to justice,” Ubaidulloyev said.
The mayor said that some forces could use them. He called on the vendors not to yield to provocations.
The law enforcement authorities said one person was killed in the fire and four others sustain burn wounds. Meanwhile, some vendors have claimed the death toll is much higher.
According to information posted on the Ministry of Interior (MoI)’s website Interior, the market guards called out the firemen only in 40 minutes after the fire broke out. When fire crews came to the fire site, a space of some 5,000 square meters was envelopes in flames.
We will recall that the fire broke out late on September 5 and it destroyed one of the market’s major buildings and numerous trade stands were goods were stored.
