ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in a recent meeting with local business leaders had promised for early promulgation of Rent Control Act in Islamabad, but so far no concrete measures were taken for this purpose. Talking to a delegation of local trade leaders that called on him at the Chamber House on Sunday, Muhammad Naveed stressed that the National Assembly should pass an amended bill of Rent Control Act in its 52nd session today (Monday) to resolve this longstanding issue of local traders once for all. PML-N Traders Wing Islamabad President Sheikh Jamshed, Traders Welfare Association Blue Area Islamabad President Yousaf Rajput, Traders Welfare Association Super Market, Islamabad General Secretary Muhammad Hussain, Raja Abdul Majeed and Amin Pirzada were in the delegation. Naveed appealed to the prime minister to honour his promise for promulgation of a new rent law in Islamabad as without the said law, traders were being evicted from shops forcefully and this situation had created a lot of concerns in the trading community of the federal capital as they were feeling insecure about their future. He said government should pay urgent attention to this serious issue and arrange the early passage of a rent restriction law from the parliament so that traders could fully focus on the growth of business activities. Yousaf Rajput, Muhammad Hussain, Raja Abdul Majeed and Amin Pirzada said that with the consensus of all stakeholders, an amended bill on rent restriction law for Islamabad was prepared that was presented in the National Assembly by MNAs Mian Abdul Manan and Asad Umar a long time ago. They said the local administration had also cleared the said bill after its thorough scrutiny, but it was still lying pending in the National Assembly. They said if the said bill was not passed into law, traders of Islamabad would have no other option except to observe complete shutter down for the acceptance of their genuine demand. Sheikh Jamshed said that his wing was fully supportive of the genuine demand of traders for a balanced rent control act in Islamabad as it was badly needed so that they could promote business activities in a secure and peaceful environment. Published in Daily Times, February 12th 2018.