Lost Revenue: Municipal workers to take govt to court

PESHAWAR: The United Municipal Workers Union (UMWU) has decided to move the Peshawar High Court against the provincial government for allotting public property to private owners at cheap rates and not increasing their rent. This was decided at a meeting of the union held at Chowk Yadgar on Monday. A large number of municipal workers attended the moot. Following the meeting, UMWU General Secretary Muhammad Fazil told The Express Tribune the workers have planned to launch protests in Peshawar against the allotment of public property to private owners. He added the government has not increased rents of municipal buildings in Namak Mandi, Ashraf Road and Chowk Yadgar for nearly three years, causing losses to the provincial kitty. “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak issued a notification a few days ago stating that rent of municipal buildings would not increase till 2015. But under the relevant laws, rent is supposed to increase by 15% every year,” claimed Fazil, adding the union will be appealing to the high court regarding the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2014.