RCB offers relief on taxes
Successful negotiations between former elected members of the cantonment boards and the cantonment administration have resulted in an agreement to provide relief to citizens in property tax, water charges and sanitation tax.
However, the issue of high tax rates on the commercial conversion of residential properties remains unresolved.
MNA Malik Abrar Ahmed, chairman of the Standing Committee on Cabinet Division, along with former Rawalpindi Cantonment Board Vice President Malik Munir Ahmed, former Chaklala Cantonment Board Vice President Raja Irfan Imtiaz, MPA Malik Iftikhar Ahmed, and former elected members Rashid Khan, Malik Tahir Ayub and others, said at a press conference that taxes in the cantonment had been reduced.
He said residential property tax had been increased by 30 per cent in the cantonment, which had now been reduced to 20 per cent. Previously, shops were sealed without notice, but now a 30-day notice would be issued.
Malik Abrar Ahmed said the recent cantonment notification introduced the Suthra Punjab model. He said the cantonment had previously been ignored, but relief would now be provided by improving the sanitation system.
He said a property tax of Rs2,500 had been imposed on properties measuring one to three marlas, which had been reduced by Rs400. There had been a smaller reduction in taxes on larger houses measuring five, seven and 10 marlas.
Malik Abrar Ahmed said relief had been provided to all categories in property tax, water charges and sanitation tax, and the formal notification had been issued by the Cantonment Executive Officer.
He said their committee was a public committee and that the requirement for drinking water was not being met. The Daducha Dam project had started and, upon completion, the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards would have access to 15 million gallons of water daily.
Malik Abrar Ahmed said he had provided Rs100 million to Rawalpindi Cantonment for solar power so that water could be supplied from tube wells at a lower cost.