ISLAMABAD: Traders Welfare Sub-Committee of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry called a meeting of local traders to discuss the issue of promulgation of a new rent control law for Islamabad as due to its absence traders were facing many problems. The meeting was attended by the representatives of various local markets.
Addressing the meeting, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the local traders have announced to observe complete shutter down strike in Islamabad from 23rd January 2018 if the amended bill of new rent control act for Islamabad was not passed by the parliament and he called upon the government to arrange the passage of said bill into law from the parliament before the deadline of the traders to resolve this longstanding issue once for all. He assured that ICCI would fully support all efforts aimed at protecting the genuine rights of the traders.
He said that long time ago, amended bill of rent control law was presented in the national assembly while the local administration has also returned it to the NA after its vetting, but it was unfortunate that the said bill was not passed into law as yet. They appealed to the government to pay urgent attention to this important issue of traders and get the bill passed from the parliament to save Islamabad from further troubles.
Muhammad Naveed, Senior Vice President and Nisar Mirza Vice President ICCI said that traders have been demanding for new rent law in Islamabad since long, but government was paying no attention to their genuine demand which demonstrated its lukewarm approach towards resolving the key issues of traders. He said due to absence of new rent law, forced evictions of traders from shops were on the rise in Islamabad due to which trading community was feeling insecure about its future. He said the inattention of the government towards to this serious issue have forced the traders to go for shutter down strike from 23rd January 2018. He said that government has still time to arrange early enactment of new rent law for Islamabad and warned that if no steps were taken to resolve this issue, traders could observe shutter down strike for indefinite period.
Khalid Chaudhry, Chairman, ICCI Traders Welfare Sub-Committee said that a consensus bill of a balanced rent control act was prepared in consultation with all stakeholders that was presented by MNAs Asam Umar and Mian Abdul Manan in the National Assembly long time ago. But the said bill was not passed into law as yet which showed that government was not interested in resolving issues of traders. He appealed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to take notice of this serious problem of traders and issue instructions to the relevant authorities for its early solution.
