Fair share: Cantonment board not to renew shopkeepers’ tenancy agreement

Authorities want shopkeepers, commercial users to pay rent as per market rate


Our Correspondent October 01, 2014

ABBOTABAD: The Cantonment Board Abbottabad (CBA) has decided not to renew tenancy agreements of shopkeepers and those who are using the board’s land for commercial purpose unless they agree to pay rent as per the market rate.

“Over 35 shops were vacated when their tenants failed to pay rent equivalent to the market rate,” CBA Chief Executive Officer Omar Farooq told The Express Tribune on Wednesday. “The board’s authorities are committed to bringing rent at par with the market because occupants have been paying minimal rent,” he said.

Over 300 shops and hotels in Abbottabad city are the property of CBA and tenants have been paying the amount which was fixed years back, said Farooq.

“If a CBA tenant is paying Rs500 per month, a shopkeeper in the same locality is paying Rs70,000 to a private owner,” he stated.

Quoting the example of a famous hotel in CBA’s limit, Farooq said the tenant was paying Rs28,000 per month while the market rate of such buildings is not less than Rs80,000 per month.

The official claimed some of the tenants have also sublet their shops illegally and are collecting a large amount in rent which is not going to the national exchequer.

Farooq said if the tenants do not pay as per the market rate their shops would be auctioned off to new tenants.

Encroached land

In response to a question, Farooq said the anti-encroachment operation is under way in the city and CBA has reclaimed hundreds of feet of encroached land. According to Farooq, the demolition squad has torn down the verandas of 12 CBA shops and cleared 10 feet on Mansehra Road for the National Highway Authority’s road widening project.

Similarly, private landowners had extended their houses onto CBA’s land by covering drains.

The encroachers were initially given warning notices but when they did not respond, the demolition squad was moved there,
said Farooq.

He added CBA’s teams clean the areas falling within its limits and examine 100 building weekly to check whether they are built in line with the laws of CBA. If any building is found to be violating the laws, its owners are served a notice to voluntarily rectify the situation or face legal action.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.

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