PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq Sunday said that increase in rent of the trust property would be made in accordance with the law and nobody would be allowed to occupy the Auqaf’s property. Talking to reporters during his visit to Chowk Yadgar here, he said some local people and government departments had illegally occupied the Auqaf’s property and they were not paying the rent that was causing financial loss to the department. He said he had come to Peshawar to discuss the issue with the administration and formulate a mechanism for the lease and rent of the Auqaf properties. He said a fresh survey of the leased properties and rent would be conducted and the occupied property would be vacated through legal means. He said an enquiry had been initiated into the lease and rent of ETPB properties and new lease and rent would be fixed as per the laws. He visited historical Mahabat Khan Mosque, Chowk Yadgar and adjacent areas to get information about the rent of government buildings. Saddiqul Farooq said that the case of 531 employees of the Auqaf department was being heard in the court. He claimed the employees had got employment by offering bribe and they have been drawing salaries for six years. “Those recruited illegally and in violation of merit would be terminated as the PML-N government has initiated reforms in all the sectors to ensure supremacy of law and justice,” he added. The survey of Auqaf property lease and rent would be completed soon and nobody would be allowed to cause further damage to the department.
