Shop owners turn paupers

The collapse of nine-storey Rana Plaza in Savar has not only cost several hundred lives but also led many businesses in the building to bankruptcy.
The condition of 142 small and medium shop owners of the building is so bad that if they do not receive any compensation or easy loans soon, they will have to come down to the street.
Rana Plaza had housed 147 shops, including a Brac Bank branch, on the ground and first floors. These shops used to sell clothes, computer accessories, cosmetics and food items.
Each of the shops, ranging between 122 and 130 square feet, had been sold at Tk 11,500 per sq-ft on the ground floor and Tk 10,500 per sq-ft on the first floor.
"I have incurred a loss of around Tk 20 lakh due to the collapse. Now if I don't restart the business, I won't be able to manage even one meal for a day for the family," said Mahbubur Rahman Apu, owner of Progressive Computer.
Sharif Khan, who used to run a business in a rented shop at Rana Plaza, said he had fallen under a huge debt, as he, like most others, used to pay suppliers after sale.
He said he and 15 other sellers of computer accessories had moved in to the building around two years ago.
Businessman Abul Kalam Azad requested the government to create scopes so that the affected businessmen could get low-interest bank loans to restart their businesses.
Anisur Rhaman, who had two clothe shops on the first floor, said: "I invested all my savings, around Tk 45 lakh, after returning from Kuwait. Now, I am totally at a loss when I think of my family and children."
He said the shop owners and businessmen of Rana Plaza had been considering filing a case against the owner of the market, Sohel Rana, for compensation, as he was responsible for the collapse.
Md Abul Kashem Bhuiyan, a returned migrant worker, also had a cloth shop on the first floor of the building. He looked completely puzzled when he was asked about his future plan.
"I will have no other choice but to beg on the streets if I do not get any compensation for the losses," he said.
Another shop owner Sultan Ahmed also echoed the same asking the government to refund their investments. "Or else we will face bankruptcy," he said.
Shop owners and businessmen said they had written to authorities concerned, including the commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Division, about their miseries and demands.
On April 24, the Rana Plaza caved in around 8:45am killing more than 442 people. Many people reported to be in the building at that time are still missing.
However, none of the shop owners had been reported injured or dead in the collapse, as they had decided not to open their shops without clearance from the authorities concerned about the cracks developed on the building the previous day, said Nuruzzaman Swapan, who had four shops there.
He said they used to open the shops around 9:30am.