Dubai: The Dubai authorities will compensate traders, a majority of whom are Indian, whose outlets were gutted in a fire last week and build a new market for them, said a top official.

"All traders whose shops were gutted in the Naif Souq will get compensation from the Dubai government regardless of whether they had insurance or not," Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director-General of Dubai Municipality told a press conference here yesterday.

A major fire that broke out early on April 2 had ravaged Naif Souq, one of the oldest markets in Dubai, which housed 183 shops selling ready made garments, toys and perfumes.

The Dubai government has instructed the municipality to speed up rebuilding work of the new Naif Souq and to compensate traders for their losses.

Lootah said the municipality has already prepared the design of the new market. There will be around 350 shops, almost double the capacity of the destroyed souq.

The souq will be a two-storey, air-conditioned building, and will have additional facilities for traders and shoppers, he said adding that the new Naif Souq will be built within eight months.

"We will bring the hustle and bustle back to Naif Souq by the end of this year," he said.

No one was killed or injured in the incident because the market was closed when the fire broke out.

Meanwhile, the Indian Consul General Venu Rajamony told PTI the consulate will do its best to help its nationals who lost their passports in the fire.

"There are three requirements if a passport is lost (a copy of the passport, an advertisement on loss of passport in the media and police report). We are ready to waive off the requirement of media advertisement. A collective police report will also be acceptable in this case. If an individual does not have a passport copy he should have his passport number. This a must," he said.
Source : PTI