Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that the Sindh government would fulfil its promise of rebuilding Gul Plaza, a multi-storey shopping plaza which was reduced to ruins due to a deadly inferno that claimed the lives of more than 70 people in January.

In January, CM Murad had told the Sindh Assembly that the provincial government would demolish and reconstruct Gul Plaza within two years, ensuring no increase in the number of shops.

Addressing a ceremony for distributing compensation cheques among the affected shopkeepers in Karachi on Friday, CM Murad said, “The Sindh government will rebuild Gul Plaza as promised, and will make the same number of shops as before. All the losses will be recompensed and no one will benefit through unfair means.”

He said that this was the first phase of distributing the cheques to the affected shopkeepers.

CM Murad also expressed his gratitude to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for providing the temporary places of business to these shopkeepers, especially in Ramazan, in Karachi Expo Centre and Bagh-i-Jinnah.

“Rs500,000 was also distributed to each affected shopkeeper immediately after the incident so they could stand on their feet,” he stated.

CM Murad added that Rs7 billion was set aside for the affected community, thanking his cabinet members for approving the funds immediately.

“The funds are there and they can be released immediately, but the valuation of losses is the real challenge,” he said.

Talking about the demolition of the plaza to initiate the rebuilding process, he said that a first information report was registered after the incident and a court order would be sought to begin the demolition process.

CM Murad also noted that in the aftermath of the incident, a lot of criticism was levelled against authorities, after which the Sindh government formed the judicial commission to probe the incident.

“It has submitted its report. It was a very detailed report, so we formed a cabinet sub-committee to recommend how to execute all the recommendations made by the report,” he said, adding, “In the next cabinet meeting, the sub-committee will submit its report.

“I haven’t read the report in detail, but have scanned it. Action will be taken even if I am held responsible, or anyone else,” he asserted.

CM Murad added that President Asif Ali Zardari was very distraught over the incident.

“President Zardari contacted a Chinese entity, which came to Pakistan twice after the incident. We didn’t ask them for financial or material support, but we asked them for a plan on how to manage the things, and we are working on it,” he stated.