ISLAMABAD: Chief Commissioner Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Usman on Monday assured that he would expedite the post-fire structure stability report of the Centaurus Mall and move master to finalize its matters.
He also allowed the Centaurus management to arrange the cleaning of the mall besides allowing owners to collect their possessions from the mall, said a press release.
He said this while talking to a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) that called on him led by its President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari. Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan former President ICCI and CEO Centaurus Mall, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi former President ICCI and Naseer Ahmed senior member ICCI were in the delegation.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI and Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan former President ICCI and CEO Centaurus briefed the Chief Commissioner and Chairman CDA about the fire incident in the mall and thanked him for monitoring the rescue and firefighting operations in his presence.
They also thanked Corps Commander 10 Corps Rawalpindi, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Rescue 1122 and Fire Brigade for their active role in bringing the fire under control due to which the Centaurus Mall was saved from serious damages.
They assured that ICCI and the Centaurus Mall Management would fully cooperate with the ICT Administration in completing the technical report and restoring the mall back to its normal operations. Sardar Yasir Ilyas informed the Chief Commissioner ICT that the mall is perfectly fine and fire did not penetrate the structure of the tower due to which the structure is sound & safe. He requested that the tenants and residents may be allowed to reside in Tower-B.
He said that each component of the complex is independent, therefore, the entire complex may not be sealed. Sardar Yasir said they would provide full support to the CDA and the administration for inspection of the mall adding that the complex may be de-sealed and the residents may not be asked to leave as it will create problems for them.
A case has been opened at the Margalla police station about the Centaurus Mall fire.
Section 436 has been used to register the case. The FIA claims that unidentified individuals set fire to the shopping center for undisclosed reasons.
An earlier fire started in the food court of the Islamabad Centaurus Mall. However, the fire was put out after two hours of frantic work with no reported casualties.