Court adjourns stallholders' claim over Jibek Jolu market fire
Thirty-eight traders seeking IS 3.1 million from the market's operator and the city must wait for the fire service's report, a Talas District Court judge ruled.
TALAS — A Talas District Court judge on Thursday adjourned a claim by 38 stallholders for compensation over the August fire at the Jibek Jolu clothing market until the fire service completes its inquiry into the cause.
Judge Mairam Tokombaeva of the court's commercial division said she could not decide who was liable for the damage while the inquiry, which the city fire service opened on 30 August, was still under way. The traders are claiming IS 3.1 million from Jibek Jolu Trade, the company that runs the market, and from the city, which owns the land. The judge ordered both defendants to keep the burned section's wiring and meters as evidence and set a review hearing for 3 December.
The fire broke out early on Sunday 30 August and destroyed about 1,400 square metres of the covered market in western Talas, including 54 stalls. No one was hurt. The fire service has named a short circuit in the hall's wiring as a possible cause but has not issued a final finding. A preliminary damage estimate by the district administration, filed with the court, puts the loss at IS 2.6 million.
“I have the receipts for the fee, and I have nothing left from the stalls”Mahabat Asylbek kyzy, stallholder
Ulukbek Abdyrov, the stallholders' lawyer, said his clients had been promised help within days of the fire. "The day after, they were told the city would compensate them. Five weeks later they have been told to wait," he said. "Most of them bought their autumn stock on credit, and the creditors are not waiting."
Mahabat Asylbek kyzy, who sold children's clothes from two stalls for eleven years, said she had paid rent to the operator every month and a fire-safety fee every quarter. "I have the receipts for the fee, and I have nothing left from the stalls," she said outside the courtroom. She now sells from a folding table at the edge of the market car park.
Marat Kenesov, a lawyer for Jibek Jolu Trade, said the company had insured the building but not the traders' goods, and that lease contracts made each stallholder responsible for insuring their own stock. He told the court the company would accept the fire service's findings. The city was represented by a lawyer from the mayor's office, who said compensation would be considered once the inquiry was complete and the loss verified.
Nurdin Turgunbaev, an independent member of Talas city council for the western wards, said the council had never voted on any payment and that the promise had been made in a statement, not a decision. "If the city meant it, the council should put a sum in the budget now and recover it later from whoever is found liable," he said. A spokesman for the mayor said any payment would require the inquiry's report first.
The fire service told the Herald its report would be sent to the court and the city by the end of November. The council's budget committee meets on 14 October.
Adapted for the Irad worldbuilding project from real reporting: 24.kg.