The September 29 car bomb attack in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani bazaar crippled the city’s markets, with businessmen suffering from enormous direct and indirect financial losses.
The blast, which left 42 dead and a score of others injured, also shattered the confidence of shopkeepers, traders and buyers alike. The traders now fear for their lives; just as the families of their workers don’t feel comfortable in letting them continue their jobs.
The carnage has slowed down business activities, as the market has recorded a decrease in the number of buyers.
“Business picked up by more than 50 per cent after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) formed the new provincial government, but the momentum proved to be short-lived,” said Waqar Ahmed, a Qissa Khwani bazaar businessman. He said business confidence had been returning after Peshawar did not experience a bomb blast for the first three months of the new government.
“There were no instances of major bomb blasts or militant attacks in the city until the recent attacks,” said Ahmed, before adding that the situation had now been reverted back to where it was during the days of the previous provincial government. His wholesale business outlet is at a few metres from the ruined Qazi Plaza, the scene of the recent attack.
“A sense of uncertainty grips the whole bazaar; businesses do not flourish under such circumstances,” he said.
Yar Jan, another shopkeeper, agrees. Jan sells washing machines in Khyber Bazaar, which is next to the Qissa Khwani market. “My business had started picking up after the new government took over, but the bomb blast scared away buyers from the market,” he said.
Sheikh Abdul Razaq, senior vice president of the Anjuman-e-Tajraan Qissa Khawani Bazaar, said the September 29 blast had caused an estimated loss of Rs100 million to over two dozen directly affected wholesalers, retailers, garment outlet owners, and small venders. A hotel in the Qazi Plaza would require major reconstruction, as the building it was housed in was ruined due a massive fire that started after the explosion.
The actual losses, he added, were higher than the estimated loss caused by the burning of inventories of several wholesalers and the damage done to properties.
“How would you calculate our losses as a result of the business that is lost in the aftermath of the blast,” asked Mr Razaq.
According to Yaseen Kashif, a wholesaler, the Qissa Khwani market remained closed for three days after the incident. And while it has reopened, buyers are not turning up. He added that retailers from rural areas had also not started coming back to the bazaar.
Apart from fulfilling the consumption requirements of the middle and lower class Peshawarites, the Qissa Khwani bazaar, being a major trading hub of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), also supplies a wide range of items to rural markets around Peshawar.
Kashif’s Sarhad Stationary, a wholesale business venture, went out of business. “I lost Rs3.5 million after my entire stock was destroyed by the raging fire,” he said gloomily. He added that three of his competitors also suffered massive losses. “Their losses are much higher in proportion to mine, as their stocks got destroyed as well.”
He sees no hope for the future, as he says the government could not compensate 100 per cent of their losses.
Mr Razaq said that the traders’ association had started collecting details of the financial losses suffered by the affected businessmen, and would forward them to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI). “The KPCCI has assured us it would take up the matter with the provincial government,” he said.
Razaq, however, does not appear to be very optimistic about the PTI-led provincial government. “The PTI is not any different either.”
Kashif, too, is not happy with the interest shown by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members. “He [the CM] visited the explosion site after more than 24 hours of the incident, and since it was raining at that time, he chose to inspect the ruined Qazi Plaza from a safe distance.”
Shopkeepers said business activities were not likely to improve for quite a while. “An atmosphere of fear and terror grips the market,” said Arbab Muhammad Jameel, who owns two falooda eateries in the Qissa Khwani bazaar. He said the area police had asked the shopkeepers to keep a close watch on vehicular traffic passing through the market.
“Police have informed us that there are reports that a white Toyota car loaded with explosives might be used to target Qissa Khwani again,” said the hazel-eyed Jameel, who lost a food server at his eatery, Habib-ur-Rehman, in the recent bomb blast. He said he had not yet recovered from the trauma of losing Rehman.
“Frankly speaking, there is no security. We fear for ourselves, and the consumers would also be taking a risk to visit Qissa Khwani.”
Traders’ leader Razaq said shoe and garment sellers, cloth merchants and owners of eateries are all likely to record a substantial drop in their sales during this Eidul Azha shopping season.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Slump in Peshawar markets
The September 29 car bomb attack in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani bazaar crippled the city’s markets, with businessmen suffering from enormous direct and indirect financial losses.
The blast, which left 42 dead and a score of others injured, also shattered the confidence of shopkeepers, traders and buyers alike. The traders now fear for their lives; just as the families of their workers don’t feel comfortable in letting them continue their jobs.
The carnage has slowed down business activities, as the market has recorded a decrease in the number of buyers.
“Business picked up by more than 50 per cent after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) formed the new provincial government, but the momentum proved to be short-lived,” said Waqar Ahmed, a Qissa Khwani bazaar businessman. He said business confidence had been returning after Peshawar did not experience a bomb blast for the first three months of the new government.
“There were no instances of major bomb blasts or militant attacks in the city until the recent attacks,” said Ahmed, before adding that the situation had now been reverted back to where it was during the days of the previous provincial government. His wholesale business outlet is at a few metres from the ruined Qazi Plaza, the scene of the recent attack.
“A sense of uncertainty grips the whole bazaar; businesses do not flourish under such circumstances,” he said.
Yar Jan, another shopkeeper, agrees. Jan sells washing machines in Khyber Bazaar, which is next to the Qissa Khwani market. “My business had started picking up after the new government took over, but the bomb blast scared away buyers from the market,” he said.
Sheikh Abdul Razaq, senior vice president of the Anjuman-e-Tajraan Qissa Khawani Bazaar, said the September 29 blast had caused an estimated loss of Rs100 million to over two dozen directly affected wholesalers, retailers, garment outlet owners, and small venders. A hotel in the Qazi Plaza would require major reconstruction, as the building it was housed in was ruined due a massive fire that started after the explosion.
The actual losses, he added, were higher than the estimated loss caused by the burning of inventories of several wholesalers and the damage done to properties.
“How would you calculate our losses as a result of the business that is lost in the aftermath of the blast,” asked Mr Razaq.
According to Yaseen Kashif, a wholesaler, the Qissa Khwani market remained closed for three days after the incident. And while it has reopened, buyers are not turning up. He added that retailers from rural areas had also not started coming back to the bazaar.
Apart from fulfilling the consumption requirements of the middle and lower class Peshawarites, the Qissa Khwani bazaar, being a major trading hub of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), also supplies a wide range of items to rural markets around Peshawar.
Kashif’s Sarhad Stationary, a wholesale business venture, went out of business. “I lost Rs3.5 million after my entire stock was destroyed by the raging fire,” he said gloomily. He added that three of his competitors also suffered massive losses. “Their losses are much higher in proportion to mine, as their stocks got destroyed as well.”
He sees no hope for the future, as he says the government could not compensate 100 per cent of their losses.
Mr Razaq said that the traders’ association had started collecting details of the financial losses suffered by the affected businessmen, and would forward them to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI). “The KPCCI has assured us it would take up the matter with the provincial government,” he said.
Razaq, however, does not appear to be very optimistic about the PTI-led provincial government. “The PTI is not any different either.”
Kashif, too, is not happy with the interest shown by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members. “He [the CM] visited the explosion site after more than 24 hours of the incident, and since it was raining at that time, he chose to inspect the ruined Qazi Plaza from a safe distance.”
Shopkeepers said business activities were not likely to improve for quite a while. “An atmosphere of fear and terror grips the market,” said Arbab Muhammad Jameel, who owns two falooda eateries in the Qissa Khwani bazaar. He said the area police had asked the shopkeepers to keep a close watch on vehicular traffic passing through the market.
“Police have informed us that there are reports that a white Toyota car loaded with explosives might be used to target Qissa Khwani again,” said the hazel-eyed Jameel, who lost a food server at his eatery, Habib-ur-Rehman, in the recent bomb blast. He said he had not yet recovered from the trauma of losing Rehman.
“Frankly speaking, there is no security. We fear for ourselves, and the consumers would also be taking a risk to visit Qissa Khwani.”
Traders’ leader Razaq said shoe and garment sellers, cloth merchants and owners of eateries are all likely to record a substantial drop in their sales during this Eidul Azha shopping season.
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