The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday gave an SOS call to the government for early compensation to affectees of Hafeez Center tragedy.
Addressing a well-attended hurriedly called press conference, the President Mian Tariq Misbah flanked by Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan and Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry and Executive Committee invited the attention of the government towards the plight of Hafeez Center fire victims.
The Hafeez Center tragedy has caused irreparable damage to the property, shops and businesses of thousands of people, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come. Traders, shopkeepers and people associated with Hafeez Center should be redressed and the government should formulate a plan of action to compensate them for their losses.
They appreciated the services of the media and said that “we pay tribute to the media for the diligence with which they covered the incident throughout the day, adding “the performance of rescue, police, army, disaster management, district administration and allied agencies is also commendable”.
Officials of LCCI said that they were deeply saddened by the tragedy at the Hafeez Center. The business community already has many problems because of Corona and this tragic incident has caused an irreversible loss to the businesses.
We welcome the move as the government has immediately constituted a 14-member committee which will submit its preliminary report in 24 hours and a full report in a week estimating the losses, they said.
They said that the Lahore Chamber extends its heartfelt condolences to the business community of Hafeez Center and demands immediate redressal of their grievances.
“We demand that the government immediately announce cash compensation to the affected businessmen as soon as the loss estimate report is received”, they added.
They informed that the business community contributes Rs626 billion in Custom duty, Rs250 billon Federal Excise Duty and Rs. 1596 billion in sales tax to national exchequer.
LCCI office-bearers said that the government should also announce assistance to the employees who were working in the shops and offices of Hafeez Center. Until the Hafeez Center is fully restored, the government should also take responsibility for the salaries of the employees.
