PESHAWAR: Non-profits continue to flourish despite court orders and a notification from the chief municipal officer issued on September 30 to end commercial activity in the residential area of University Town within 15 days.
While talking to The Express Tribune, a senior municipal official said the court declared the existence of commercial units in residential areas of Hayatabad and University Town a “sheer violation of the Local Government Act 2013”.
Following the notification, the municipal committee formed a team to take concrete action against the violators. However, little action was taken despite the passage of two months. Landowners and tenants are said to be influential people, resulting in hesitation on part of the municipal officials to confront the issue head on.
Relocating people
Additional deputy commissioner Irfanuddin who had decided to take action was transferred before any practical step could be taken, said district commissioner’s spokesperson, Feroz Shah. However, he added, multiple meetings had been convened to address the issue.
Where do we go from here
Non-governmental organisations (NGO) have their own woes to express.
The CEO of an NGO based in University Town who received the notification to relocate said he pays as much as Rs50,000 per month in rent.
“How can I move to another area? Has the government established any commercial areas in Peshawar for NGOs?” he questioned, adding only local NGOs and small businessmen are being harassed while international NGOs are allowed to function in the same vicinity.
Another NGO representative said over a 100 such organisations have their offices in the area. These organisations are asked by municipal officials to cough up bribes to delay the action, he added.
“How can they force me out when I am paying (them) Rs5,000 per month?” he said. ‘The notification is just a piece of paper and nothing else.”
A member of an international NGO requesting anonymity said municipal officials take Rs1,000 per day from them to maintain the status quo.
Committee woes
No official could be reached despite multiple attempts to obtain an official version from University Town municipal committee. However, one member of the committee requesting anonymity stated NGOs have “contacts with bigwigs”.
“We cannot take action against a close colleague of the current or former chief minister or a senior official of a law enforcement agency, can we?” he said. No one can run an NGO in Peshawar without the patronage of influential people, he added.
“Most officials have been verbally abused by the violators,” and officials have resorted to taking bribes because they know they cannot close down the non-profits so easily, said the committee member.
He mentioned the cases are now sub-judice before the Supreme Court because most of the violators have obtained stay orders.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2014.
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