After the DNCC market in Gulshan 1 caught fire for the second time in just over two years yesterday, shopkeepers have said a shopping mall is not a suitable permanent solution for them.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, the shopkeepers said they believe rent will skyrocket if a shopping mall is built, and the concurrent rise in the prices of their goods would negatively affect consumers.
They also said they were unsure if the developer who is set to construct the mall, Metro Group, would provide them with space in the mall, as promised during a meeting between the two after the first fire in 2017.
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Haji Abu Bakar, who rents space at the DNCC market for his imported food store, said a modern shopping mall would not be suitable for the goods sold at the market, as their main attraction was wholesale prices.
“Once a modern shopping mall is built, our rents will increase significantly, and we will have to increase our prices as a result. The main reason people come to this market is so they can get items such as imported food at very low prices. If we have to increase our prices, we will lose all our customers,” he explained.
Meanwhile, imported food store owner Kutubur Rahman Appel said lack of contact with the developer had left them suspicious as to whether they will get the same amount of space as they used to have.
“We last sat with the developer when Annisul Huq was still alive and mayor, shortly after the fire about two years ago. Since then, we have not been contacted by Metro Group.
“The developer had told us that we would get space when a shopping mall is built, but they did not specify how much. We think we will get a lot less space than we used to have,” he added.
Earlier in the day, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam said a permanent solution was necessary for the DNCC market, as the market is overly congested, increasing the risk of fires.