LANDI KOTAL: Business activities resumed and shops reopened in Bara Bazaar here on Friday after seven years of inactivity.
Bara Bazaar was closed in Sept 2009 after the security forces launched a military operation against militant outfits and criminal groups.
Hundreds of traders, elders and tribesmen attended the bazaar reopening ceremony.
The security forces and political administration had made stringent security arrangements at the bazaar’s entry and exit points.
Political agent Shahab Ali Shah, MNA Nasir Khan and some security officials unlocked some closed shops to declare the resumption of business activities in the bazaar. Mr. Shahab Ali said the bazaar would open at 8am and close at 6pm.
He said five entry points with closed-circuit television cameras had been established in the bazaar to facilitate the movement of local traders and ensure their security and that of visitors.
The political agent said a control room had been established at the bazaar to help traders benefit fire brigade and ambulance service in emergency. He said shops would be supplied water by bowsers and electricity by eight transformers installed in the bazaar.
MNA Nasir Khan welcomed the revival of business activities in Bara and said he was hopeful that it would generate economic activity in the militancy-ravaged area and thus, providing jobs to the local youths.
Meanwhile, the political administration has barred Bara Bazaar traders from dealing in all kinds of arms, ammunition and narcotics.
Also, all traders have been told to submit an undertaking that they will not collect funds for the militant groups.
Office-bearer of the erstwhile Bara Tajir Ittehad Maqbali Khan said only around 30 per cent of Bara Bazaar traders were in a position to restart business. “After suffering millions of rupees worth of losses due to the closure of shops for seven long years, most traders are unable to do business,” he said. The trader leader demanded that the government give bank loans to traders on easy terms and announce a financial package for the reconstruction of the damaged parts of the bazaar.
He said nearly 80 per cent of the buildings in the bazaar were unsafe for use and therefore, the government should help the relevant traders rebuild them for the complete revival of business in the bazaar.
Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2016