Mingala wholesale market, gutted in a devastating 33-hour fire, will be renovated within two months, and three temporary trading spaces have been arranged nearby, a Rangoon official said today.

New Mingala market, Mingalamon market and vacant lands beside the latter had been arranged as temporary spaces, City Secretary Aung Than Win told about 500 retailers at a meeting on Thursday.  

The original Mingala market structure will be repaired by the Rangoon City Development Committee’s building department within two months, Aung Than Win said at the third meeting attended by municipal authorities and retailers.

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Temporary spaces must be arranged for 4,000 shops. Vacant rooms from Mingalamon market and New Mingala were set up as temporary venues for shop owners from the fourth floor, the worst hit area as it was the origin of the blaze. Vacant spaces beside Mingalamon market have been set aside for vendors from the lower floors, the city official said.

All three sites are close to the big wholesale market in Mingala Taungnyunt Township, which was gutted in the fire that started on Monday morning. The blaze raged for at least 33 hours – breaking the fire department’s 20-year record for duration – injured at least four people and gutted 845 shops. The total value of the damage was about 21 billion Kyats (about US$ 21 million), a fire official said.

“The figure is a conservative estimate; the cost of the damage will actually be far more than that”, the fire official told Mizzima, requesting anonymity.