RAWALPINDI, May 15: Local legislators of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will decide the rent of 89 shops owned by Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA).

An official of RTMA told Dawn that the RTMA wanted to increase the rent of the shops in Taj Market, Gundam Mandi and Raja Bazaar some three months back but the Punjab Chief Minister aborted its move at the behest of the local lawmakers. He said that the civic body had invited tenders and fixed January 24, 2012 as the date for auction but the process was stopped.

“The local traders contacted MNA Hanif Abbasi and MPA Ziaullah Shah who managed to convince Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in stopping the process,” he said and added that according to rules, the town administration revised the rent of shops, petrol filling stations and other property owned by it.

Upon the resentment, the chief minister constituted four-member committee including MNAs Malik Shakeel Awan, Hanif Abbasi, MPA Ziaullah Shah and District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar to decide whether the rent of the RTMA property should be increased or not.

The meeting of the committee was scheduled to be held on May 15 but it postponed due to unavailability of the members. DCO was busy in preparation of chief minister’s meeting over development works in the city for which provincial government has released over Rs1 billion. Hanif Abbasi was on Sindh tour with PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and Malik Shakeel Awan was busy in National Assembly Standing Committee meeting in Islamabad. The meeting was rescheduled for May 17.

The RTMA official said total annual revenue of the town was Rs400 million against the expenditure of Rs360 million and with the remaining Rs40 million new development projects could not be launched. He said that the town lost its major sources of income to the city district government Rawalpindi (CDGR) after the Local Government Ordinance 2001. Earlier, commercial building plan, advertisement hoarding fees and Octroi used to be the major sources of revenue for the town.

MNA Malik Shakeel Awan, while talking to Dawn, said the civic body should increase the rent of the shops after every three years instead of reassessing it every six months or a year. He said that the committee would review the problems of shopkeepers and administration and recommend the remedy.

When contacted, Rawal Town Administrator Saif Anwar Jappa said to bridge the gap between expenditure and revenue, the RTMA through a survey had identified 2,600 shops in various localities that had been rented out at nominal rents.

He said the property could generate more revenue if rented out at market rates.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar said that the basic purpose of the committee was to address the grievances of the people and recommend solution after listening to the administration’s point of view. He said that the problem would be solved soon after the meeting of the committee.