Govt to assist Bangabazar businesses to recover from fire damages: PM Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government will assist the Bangabazar businesspeople as much as possible after estimating the damages caused by Tuesday's fire.

"I've already assured that we will help them as much as we can. We'll assess who incurred how much loss," she said addressing an event at her official residence Ganabhaban.

The event was arranged to receive Tk 316.91 crore as first and second installments of the loan provided by the government for construction of Padma Bridge.

Road Transport and Bridge Minister Obaidul Quader handed over a cheque of Tk 316,90,97,049 to the Prime Minister as the first and second installments of the loan taken from Bangladesh Bank at a low interest rate under an agreement signed between the Finance Division and the Bangladesh Bridge Authority.

Terming the fire as a very tragic incident, Hasina said it is too much to bear the suffering and crying of so many businesspeople ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr.

She said the government undertook a project to construct a planned market there following the fire incidents in 1995 and 2018. But a good number of people obstructed it and filed a writ petition and then the High Court stayed the project.

"Hadn't it (the project) been stayed at that time, we could have built a good market and then such a terrible accident would not have happened," she said.

The premier, however, lambasted a number of unruly people who attacked nearby the headquarters of the fire service. Their behaviour has angered her, she said.

The firefighters rushed to the spot soon after the fire broke out to extinguish the blaze.

The PM said she asked to identify the attackers and take proper action against them. "Proper action will be taken against them. Case will be filed against them," she said.

She said if anyone attacks the members or vehicles of the fire service or other public property in future, they won't be spared.