TAXILA: Traders’ community is at loggerheads with the Cantonment Board Wah (CBW) authorities over the issue of using residential properties for commercial purposes.

The traders made their grievances known through a press conference held at a local hotel on Friday.

The press conference was addressed by Chamber of Commerce and Small Industries Senior Vice President Naeem Ashraf, Traders’ Union Chairman Raja Habibur Rehman, Faisal Abbasi and Sohail Ahmed.

They issued a white paper against Cantonment Board Wah authorities in which they alleged that some officials of the building control department had themselves allowed conversion of residential properties into commercial and were now sealing them through different tactics.

They claimed that the board’s commercialisation fee was the highest in the country, which was why they were unable to pay it. As a result, their properties were being sealed, they added.

Raja Habib said there were over 40 cantonments in the country but properties were being sealed only in Wah. He alleged that the civic body was utilising colonial law to create unrest among the traders who were the backbone of the economy. He said shops of traders who were paying taxes were being sealed.

Speaking in the occasion, a trader, Naeem Ashraf, said: “These are not 118 commercial units but 118 families from whom the civic body officials were snatching bread and butter.”

He said they were being treated as criminals by the civic body officials.

He went on to say that the bureaucracy was creating unnecessary obstacles in the conversion of domestic property into commercial as files were relevant files were lying with the civic body from the last many years.

In response to the traders’ allegation, Additional Cantonment Executive Officer (ACEO) Ghulam Sabir Basra termed the traders’ union an illegitimate body.

Flanked by cantonment board secretary Kamran Sahi, Mr Basra told mediapersons that the so-called representatives of the traders’ community were not registered with the relevant labour and traders’ bodies concerned.

Mr Sabir said 423 residential premises were identified which were illegally being used for commercial purposes and were evading taxes.

He further said 118 units had been sealed while action was being taken against the rest of the properties.

He informed the media that residential properties were being used as schools, colleges, academies and shops.

Markets, hospitals and beauty parlours had also been established, Mr Sabir said, adding that the traders’ unions were encouraging people to break the law instead of fulfilling their responsibilities.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024