ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Traders Welfare Association, Main Civic Centre, Melody Market, Islamabad visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by its president Syed Adil Anis and appealed to the parliament for early passage of Rent Control bill for amicable resolution of rising rent disputes.
Addressing the delegation, Atif Ikram Sheikh, president, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that enactment of a balanced rent control act was a long-standing issue of the local business community, but it was unfortunate that its bill, which was presented in the Parliament long time ago, was not passed into a law as yet. It showed how serious the government was in resolving the problems of business community.
He said due to absence of balanced rent law, traders were always vulnerable about their future as many were being forced to vacate shops. He stressed upon the government to arrange early promulgation of new rent law to secure the future of trading community. He said Main Civic Center Melody Market was an important commercial hub in Islamabad, but was facing many problems due to lack of attention.
He called upon the CDA to focus on better development of Melody Market and address its key issues on priority to facilitate better growth of business activities. He said inclusion of this market into Red Zone has taken a heavy toll on its business activities as customers were voiding to visit this area for shopping and emphasized that local administration should look into this issue to protect the business interests of traders. He assured that ICCI would take up their issues at relevant forum for redress.
Speaking at the occasion, Syed Adil Anis, president, Traders Welfare Association, Melody Market and Masood ur Rehman, Group leader highlighted key issues for urgent attention of relevant authorities. They said the Main Civic Centre was facing many issues including lack of parking facility, no proper Masjid due to which large number of Namazeez was offering Jumma prayer in the open, footpaths were broken while the condition of sewerage and sanitation was very unsatisfactory and CDA was paying no attention to address these problems.
They said CDA should construct parking plaza and allocate suitable plot for Masjid. They said some elements were involved in many illegal activities in the area and stressed that police should take action to curb them. They demanded for construction of flowers market and extension of food-park in Melody Market for facilitation of customers.
