Allot shops before eviction: Fulbaria traders

Affected traders of blocks A, B and C, and basement at Fulbaria Super Market-2 have demanded that the government ensure their rehabilitation by allocating shops before evicting them. 

 

At a press conference held at the National Press Club in the capital on Wednesday, the businessmen sought the intervention of the prime minister in this regard. 

 

Abdul Hannan Prodhan read out a written statement on behalf of the general business community at the press conference.

 

There are vacant shops on the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors of Fulbaria Super Market-2, he said, adding that they will vacate the basement willingly if those shops are allotted to the impacted traders.

 

Also, according to the written statement, the Dhaka South City Corporation has been conducting eviction drives in various shops and markets in the Fulbaria-Gulistan area for the last several days. 

 

"But, we have been doing business in this market for the last 24 years. Some 541 shops have been allotted to us. At first, the monthly rental was Tk600 per shop, which was later increased to Tk1,600. This money is being taken through receipts. 

 

"All 541 traders have been issued trade licenses by the Dhaka South City Corporation, which have been renewed till June 2021. We have also been paying VAT and other taxes on a regular basis. Shop rentals for the months up to March and April 2021 have been paid in advance. What is more, traders have borrowed crores of taka from banks," said the statement.

 

"If the traders are evicted under these circumstances, short of death, there will be no other way out for them."

 

A number of shop owners including Nasir Uddin, owner of Bhanga Shoes Shop, attended the press conference on behalf of the traders at blocks A, B and C and the basement of Fulbaria Super Market-2.