LAHORE: The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) on Friday retrieved the building of the Punjab Department of Fisheries and sealed its offices due to non-payment of rent.
The property is owned by ETPB and stretches on five kanals; it is located on Sanda road and was functioning as the office of the provincial fisheries department.
It was learnt that the building was allotted to the fisheries department on rental basis and the department had failed to submit rent to ETPB for the last several years.
ETPB’s Lahore administrator, Tanveer Hussain while speaking to Pakistan Today said, “We had served notices to the fisheries department asking them to pay the arrear amount; an amount of Rs60, 33,74,829 is due on them.”
“Our teams have had to conduct operations to retrieve the building, since the department of fisheries was unwilling to vacate the site. Now security personnel have been installed to keep guard and ensure safety,” he added.
Hussain said that the fisheries department also issued an appeal to ETPB which was rejected and has now entered into negotiations with the evacuee board’s representatives.
ETPB Chairman Dr Amer Ahmed said that the possession of the building was acquired “amicably” and that the board was taking action against “defaulters”.
Evacuee board’s spokesperson, Amir Hashmi, however, said that the director-general and additional secretary of the fisheries department had met ETPB officials and that negotiations between the two institutions to resolve the crisis were underway.
