A permanent wholesale flower market has opened on the embankment (beribandh) at Gabtoli in the capital. An inauguration ceremony was held at the market on Monday morning, with Fatema Wadud, senior director of the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), as chief guest.

The event was presided over by Abdur Rahim, president of the Gabtoli wholesale flower market. DAM officials Mafizul Islam, Dr Rafiqul Islam, Dr Kamruzzaman and Reza Shahnaz Hadi were special guests.

Moderated by flower trader S M Mohiuddin, the event was also addressed by flower traders Nur Mohammad, Ataullah, Mir Faruk Ahmed, Rabiul Alam Titu, Mozammel Haque Mithu and Mohiuddin, among others.

Flower traders at the event said that although the government had arranged a permanent market for them, obstruction by a certain quarter had delayed it. Some traders at the temporary markets in Shahbagh and Agargaon were still obstructing it, they said, but their conspiracy would not stop them.

They said the wholesale market would now be held regularly at Gabtoli.

DAM officials said the government had set up the wholesale market at Gabtoli at great expense for the convenience of traders and as part of a plan to ease traffic congestion in Dhaka. The market will now be held regularly at Gabtoli, and no wholesale flower market will be allowed to operate anywhere else.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.