ISLAMABAD: Some cattle traders have approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the high rent in the cattle market for sacrificial animals.

They claimed that the ground rent was increased after political figures got involved in the trade.

“We have no choice but to pass on the higher cost to the buyers,” said Haji Akram, who along with Khizar Hayat earlier filed a complaint with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) against the high land rent.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Akram said the same space which was available for Rs1,500 in the market in 2013 was being offered for Rs300,000 this year.

After failing to get any response from the CDA, he said the cattle traders filed a writ petition with the IHC.

The petitioners’ counsel, Waseem Abbasi, told Dawn that there was no reason for imposing the new land rent of Rs450 per square yard.

Say ground rent due to involvement of two politicians in the trade

“The ground rent at this rate for a plot of 45x45 yard would be around Rs900,000 and a seller can only keep a maximum of 30 cattle in this space,” Mr Abbasi said.

“So this means that the ground rent per animal is Rs30,000. Do you think it is affordable?

The CDA auctioned the sacrificial cattle mandi on September 18 at the record high rate of Rs21 million. The highest bid for the mandi last year was Rs10 million.

The contract to establish the sacrificial market has been obtained by Raja Brothers, who were also managing the weekly cattle market in Taxila for the last many years.

One of the brothers, Raja Zahid, acknowledged that the Rs450 per square yard rent was introduced this year while other charges remained the same.

The other charges included entry fee of Rs120 for each goat or sheep and Rs200 per cattle. There are also different parking charges for motorcycles, cars and commercial vehicles.

“We have been charging for the space in the past too but that was based on the market rate. This time it has been streamlined to Rs450 per square yard,” Mr Zahid said. “But this includes water, cleanliness, tent, electricity and security charges.”

The CDA officials claimed that cleanliness in the area and the supply of water through tankers was managed by the civic body.

“Apart from Rs20 million for the CDA, the contractor will pay Rs10 million to Iesco and more than Rs5 million to manage security on the premises,” an official of the civic body added, claiming that the contractor was not minting money from the deal.

Waseem Abbasi Advocate explained that between one and 1.2 million animals were brought to the market last year.

“The entry fee was Rs120 for small animals and Rs200 for cattle. The official estimate is that 75 per cent of the animals brought to the market were goats and sheep,” he said.

“So around Rs140 million were received from this head alone last year against the contract of Rs10 million. Besides, there is an inflow from the parking fee too where the contractor has not invested anything because the road and ground has been built by the CDA.”

“We have heard that PML-N leaders Hanif Abbasi and Sardar Naseem are partners in the contract,” said Haji Akram. “Sardar Naseem is often seen in the management office in the mandi.”

But both the CDA staff and the contractor denied the involvement of politicians in the affair.

Sardar Naseem could not be contacted for comments. However, Hanif Abbasi told Dawn: “I do not know about anyone else but I am in the medicine business and have nothing to do with animals or fodder.”

Published in Dawn, September 25th , 2014