Safety first: DHA plans to keep an eye on tenants

According to new rules, tenants will provide details to DHA, police.

KARACHI:

After discovering the crystal meth laboratory inside an apartment in Bukhari Commercial recently, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) is working on new rules to obtain information on people who rent out apartments and houses in the neighbourhood.

According to the new rules, all property owners and estate agents will be obligated to disclose the details on tenants in DHA. Once the rules are implemented, it will be easier for the police to keep track on suspects by checking the credentials of tenants, said a senior DHA official on Tuesday.

“This has to be done immediately if we want to make our neighbourhoods safe,” he said. “The recent discovery of a drug lab inside a flat was an indicator of how vulnerable we have become.” On November 27, the police found a makeshift lab where potent crystal meth was being manufactured. Unfortunately, the authorities only learnt of this after an explosion caused by someone mishandling the chemicals. The occupants of that apartment had changed residences multiple times in DHA.



In the aftermath, the DHA authorities sealed and blacklisted Shah Estates, who rented out the apartment, on the grounds that they failed to check the credentials of the tenants or shared their details with the police.

The DHA official told The Express Tribune that they cannot comment yet on how the plan would work out but they will make it mandatory for residents and property dealers to submit all information with either the police or the DHA office. In fact, the rule on submitting tenant information at the relevant police station was issued by the Sindh Home Department nearly two months ago.

Citi Associates in-charge Shafi Jakvani agreed that sharing details with the police has become imperative given the recent events. He said that, “people are scared of sharing anything with the police and there is a huge credibility issue”.

According to the home department guidelines, property dealers have to submit deal agreements with the police. Jakvani felt that, “people may not be comfortable with this idea given that it includes details such as the amount of rent and the cost of the property”.



The police are also prepared to take on this added responsibility. DSP Zameer Abbasi, who was investigating the drug lab case, said there was no reason to be sceptical of the law enforcers. “The police had already been using available information on tenants and servants to search for criminals.”

Officers do keep an eye on criminals discreetly whenever something suspicious surfaces from the database, he explained. “Having names, addresses, national identity card numbers and other details have actually helped us a lot.”

Nevertheless, Association of Defence Residents’ representative Asad Kizilbash said any decision, which relates to gathering details about the residents should be debated first.

“Security is important but this is not something that can work without taking everyone on board. We need to be sure that our rights are protected and that all this information will not be misused.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2012.