This workman is seen making preparations for tomorrow's opening of Mohamed's Enterprise on Lombard Street. According to Proprietor Nazar Mohamed, the ground floor will be opened for business while the upper floors will be ready in mid-January. Fire destro
The proprietor of Mohamed's Enterprise on Lombard Street promises that his business will reopen tomorrow. To meet this deadline, Nazar Mohamed has about 70 men working on the site up to midnight.
In an on-site interview with Stabroek News on Friday, Mohamed said that he had spent about $15 million so far and estimated that he would spend a further $75 to $80 million before the entire building is complete in mid-January.
Mohamed's is one of the three businesses gutted in the November 13 fire. The Royal Castle fast food and Auto Supplies Company were also destroyed.
Mohamed said that business would recommence on the ground floor of his building tomorrow.
Before the fire, this floor housed a clothing store, jewellery shop and a cambio. Mohamed told Stabroek News that his engineers confirmed that it would be safe for business to be conducted on the ground floor while construction continues on the upper floors.
He said he was depending on credit for building material from his business colleagues as the process of the insurance claims was ongoing. He said that he had told the loss adjusters that he was not prepared to wait until the claims came through. He indicated that officials from the insurance companies had been very helpful and that a meeting with some of the adjusters had been planned for next week to establish the value of stock. The adjusters will also examine the extent of the damage to the building.
He stated that even in the rebuilding phase, looters continued to pose a threat, with some of them making off with bags of cement, zinc sheets, wood and steel grills. Because of this, he has four guards keeping watch at night.
Mohamed said that he would bring back his staff from Hadi's General Store, where they had been sent to work after the fire. He added that the staff was like a family and that the only ones who had left were those who would have migrated.
In recounting the events, Mohamed said he had received a call at 9.40 pm and when he got there, seven minutes after receiving the call, the fire had started to engulf Auto Supplies, but he was able to go into the ground floor of the building and save some articles.
He said from what he saw, he did not believe that the fire would have touched his building. He had seen members of the fire service fighting the small flames which were coming from Auto Supplies.
He said that his workers took the hoses from the firemen and fought the fire themselves for about five to seven minutes. He said that the fire started to really grow at about 10.30 pm.