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Dubai: Dubai Municipality will open the temporary Naif Souq tomorrow as all the project works have been completed.
Juma Khalifa Al Fuqaei, Director of General Maintenance Department, said that traders have already started moving their goods to the new shops, which is 500m from the original souq that was gutted in a fire in April.
He said that all utilities, such as water, electricity, and drainage, are connected and Civil Defence requirements such as fire extinguishers are met with.
"We have completed building the temporary souq much before the scheduled period. We had announced that the souq will be set up in 60 days. However, we have finished the work in 45 days," said Al Fuqaei.
He said that the materials used in constructing the souq were fire-proof and they could be easily reused in constructing similar facilities after dismantling them. "We have used light weight steel structures and no timber wood is used that will catch fire," Al Fuqaei said, adding that the souq can be made permanent or dismantled later.
Al Fuqaei said that the compensation announced by the municipality for the shop owners of the old Naif Souq was distributed during the last few days.
The temporary market houses all the 200 shops that were there in the original market. They have been provided with all safety and security requirements, and include all amenities provided to shop-owners in the original market.
"The shop owners need not pay any additional rents until the new Naif Souq is ready by the end of the year," said Al Fuqaei.
Naif Souq was one of the oldest traditional markets in Dubai, located near the ancient Naif Fort.
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