Gakhar Plaza to be opened on April 20

The inauguration ceremony of ten-storey Gakhar Plaza will be held on April 20 after ‘Juma’ prayers.

Gakhar Plaza was completed gutted in a fire incident on December 20, 2008 in which four persons were killed and over 60 others were injured and more than 5,000 people associated with the plaza lost their businesses and jobs.Talking to ‘The News’ on Thursday, Gakhar Plaza Chief Executive Raja Shahid Zafar said that with the grace of Allah Gakhar Plaza has been completed after three and a half years. “Gakhar Plaza would be opened in a simple ceremony and shopkeepers would start business activities once again,” he added.

He said that earlier Gakhar Plaza was a six-storey building, but now four more storeys have been added to the structure and it could accommodate 500 shops. “First two floors would be for parking where more than 500 vehicles could be parked at a time. A floor would be allocated for brand and designers,” he added.

He said that they have installed a ‘solar light system’ in Gakhar Plaza to avoid electricity problems and arranged for a fire-fighting system in it. “Smoking will be completely banned in the plaza and nobody will be allowed to bring any kind of weapon into it,” he warned. “We have built a separate mosque for female customers. We have provided the facility of seven lifts, including three capsule lifts, for customers. Now, we have installed escalators in the plaza as well,” he added.

He said that he has preferred old shopkeepers and almost 100% of those shopkeepers would be accommodated in the new building. “The reports that I am demanding higher rent for new shops is baseless,” he added.

Talking to ‘The News,’ affected shopkeepers and salesmen of Gakhar Plaza said that they are very happy to see the ten-storey plaza after three and a half years wait.

Some old shopkeepers alleged that Gakhar Plaza Committee has forgotten them and was demanding double rent for shops. They said: “We fully cooperated with the Gakhar Plaza Committee in the establishment process, but concerned management was not offering them shops to continue business in the plaza once again,” they added.

Gakhar Plaza Committee (GPC) President Chaudhry Zia, General Secretary Amir Nazir and Secretary Raji Khan rejected all allegations saying they have preferred all old shopkeepers of the plaza for continuing their business in the plaza on the same old rent. “Even though shops are better now, but we are still offering the shops on previous rent,” they claimed.