Uprooted businesses await monetary relief
While mass transit projects are the need of the hour given the seasonal smog crisis plaguing the province, they are often a source of huge financial losses for thousands of local businessmen, who are suddenly left without a source of income.
For instance, Naeem Aamir, a businessman uprooted during the construction of the Metro Bus, revealed that he had inherited several shops alongside the Ferozepur Road. However, even after the passage of several years, he was still struggling to receive the promised compensation. 'The monetary compensation given by the government is like salt in flour. Even today, we have to plead for our money and have almost become shuttlecocks between the development agency and the project,' claimed Aamir.
Similarly, Riaz Ahmed, a small trader, who used to own a shop in Anarkali, was uprooted during the construction of the Orange Metro Train Station. 'I used to work as a used-cloth merchant and owned a small shop. The government did not offer proper compensation for my loss. Money was only given for the land, while no relief was given for the damage to my business, which had to be shut down eventually. Even today, I am making rounds of various government offices to get some help,' explained Ahmed.
As per information obtained by the Express Tribune, more than 22 underpasses, 17 flyovers, a ring road spanning more than 100 kilometers in length, a 28-kilometer Orange Line train and a 27-kilometer Metro Bus have been constructed in Lahore, the largest city of the province during the past two decades. While these projects have resulted in development work worth trillions of rupees, they have also caused financial hardship for hundreds of families.
According to Sohail Hanif Bhandara, an urban developer, the government has a reputation of giving stepmother treatment to the business community and residential areas during the construction of big development projects. 'Although big business entities are paid well, small businesses are often neglected. Therefore, before starting any big development project, efforts should be made to bypass areas with small businesses or mini residential schemes on the route. This process will not only reduce the cost of the project but will also ensure that the common man is not affected,' implored Bhandara.
On the other hand, Rai Nasir Jamil, a land acquisition collector, claimed that whenever the government acquired any land, it first evaluated the value of the land and then offered compensation to businesses as per the government's standard formula. 'The standard formula is that whenever a project affecting residential, urban and rural populations is announced, the cost of the project is calculated only after determining its parameters. Sometimes there are irregularities in the valuation. But this can be settled by the complainant later on,' said Jamil.
As per the claims of the government, a special package was given to underprivileged families who had been living on the land of various government departments for more than 60 years and did not have ownership rights. Families living in one room in a multi-storey building were given assistance of Rs1 million per household. Land compensation for residential houses located in Kapoorthala House, Kacha Lake Road and Edward Road was Rs.2.5 million per marla, while the compensation for commercial land was Rs3.5 million per marla. One hundred families were living in the Bengali Building while 58 families were living in the Maharaja Building.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
25-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Uprooted businesses await monetary relief
While mass transit projects are the need of the hour given the seasonal smog crisis plaguing the province, they are often a source of huge financial losses for thousands of local businessmen, who are suddenly left without a source of income. For instance, Naeem Aamir, a businessman uprooted during the construction of the Metro Bus, revealed that he had inherited several shops alongside the Ferozepur Road. However, even after the passage of several years, he was still struggling to receive the promised compensation. 'The monetary compensation given by the government is like salt in flour. Even today, we have to plead for our money and have almost become shuttlecocks between the development agency and the project,' claimed Aamir. Similarly, Riaz Ahmed, a small trader, who used to own a shop in Anarkali, was uprooted during the construction of the Orange Metro Train Station. 'I used to work as a used-cloth merchant and owned a small shop. The government did not offer proper compensation for my loss. Money was only given for the land, while no relief was given for the damage to my business, which had to be shut down eventually. Even today, I am making rounds of various government offices to get some help,' explained Ahmed. As per information obtained by the Express Tribune, more than 22 underpasses, 17 flyovers, a ring road spanning more than 100 kilometers in length, a 28-kilometer Orange Line train and a 27-kilometer Metro Bus have been constructed in Lahore, the largest city of the province during the past two decades. While these projects have resulted in development work worth trillions of rupees, they have also caused financial hardship for hundreds of families. According to Sohail Hanif Bhandara, an urban developer, the government has a reputation of giving stepmother treatment to the business community and residential areas during the construction of big development projects. 'Although big business entities are paid well, small businesses are often neglected. Therefore, before starting any big development project, efforts should be made to bypass areas with small businesses or mini residential schemes on the route. This process will not only reduce the cost of the project but will also ensure that the common man is not affected,' implored Bhandara. On the other hand, Rai Nasir Jamil, a land acquisition collector, claimed that whenever the government acquired any land, it first evaluated the value of the land and then offered compensation to businesses as per the government's standard formula. 'The standard formula is that whenever a project affecting residential, urban and rural populations is announced, the cost of the project is calculated only after determining its parameters. Sometimes there are irregularities in the valuation. But this can be settled by the complainant later on,' said Jamil. As per the claims of the government, a special package was given to underprivileged families who had been living on the land of various government departments for more than 60 years and did not have ownership rights. Families living in one room in a multi-storey building were given assistance of Rs1 million per household. Land compensation for residential houses located in Kapoorthala House, Kacha Lake Road and Edward Road was Rs.2.5 million per marla, while the compensation for commercial land was Rs3.5 million per marla. One hundred families were living in the Bengali Building while 58 families were living in the Maharaja Building.
Business Recorder
21-05-2025
- Business Recorder
Pakistan's power generation increases 22% in April
Power generation in Pakistan clocked in at 10,513 GWh in April 2025, an increase of over 22% YoY compared to the same period of the previous year, suggesting an uptick in economic activity. Back in April 2024, power generation stood at 8,639 GWh. 'The 22% increase in power generation, on a yearly basis, is the highest in 48 months,' Rao Aamir, energy analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told Business Recorder. The surge in energy consumption is attributed to an increased demand, driven by a reduction in tariffs, the analyst said. Net-metering buyback: Does govt want to dim Pakistan's solar glow? On a monthly basis, power generation surged by 25% as compared to 8,409 GWh in March. Despite the increase, generation remained in line with the reference level. However, in the first 10 months of FY25 (July-April), power generation fell by 0.4% YoY to 100,661 GWh compared to 101,088 GWh in the SPLY. 'Power generation is expected to increase in the coming months, due to a demand surge on account of summer months and an uptick in economic activity,' said Aamir. On the other hand, the total cost of generating electricity in Pakistan increased by 8%, clocking in at Rs9.92 KWh in April 2025 compared to Rs9.21 KWh registered in the same period of the previous year. The increase in cost is attributed to the rise in power generation cost from RLNG, which increased to Rs24.26 KWh, a gain of 10%, compared to Rs22.13 KWh in SPLY. In April, hydel emerged as the leading source of power generation, accounting for 21.9% of the generation mix, to become the largest source of electricity generation. This was followed by RLNG, which accounted for 20.5% of the overall generation, ahead of nuclear, which accounted for 17.9% of the power generation share. Among renewables, wind and solar generation amounted to 4.6% and 1.1%, respectively, of the generation mix.
Express Tribune
18-05-2025
- Express Tribune
IMF slaps 11 new conditions on Pakistan
Listen to article The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slapped 11 new conditions on Pakistan, including approval of a new Rs17.6 trillion worth budget, increasing debt servicing surcharge on electricity bills and lifting restrictions on the import of more than three years old used cars. The Staff Level report, which the IMF released on Saturday, also said that "rising tensions between India and Pakistan, if sustained or deteriorate further, could heighten risks to the fiscal, external and reform goals of the programme". The report further stated that tensions between Pakistan and India have risen significantly over the past two weeks but so far the market reaction has been modest with the stock market retaining most of its recent gains and spreads widening moderately. The IMF has shown the defense budget for the next fiscal year at Rs2.414 trillion, which is higher by Rs252 billion or 12%. Compared to the IMF's projection, the government has indicated allocating over Rs2.5 trillion or 18% higher budget after India's naked aggression. The report revealed that the IMF has slapped 11 more conditions on Pakistan for the sake of just $7 billion lending, taking the total conditions to 50. It has imposed a new condition of securing "parliamentary approval of the fiscal year 2026 budget in line with the IMF staff agreement to meet programme targets by end-June 2025". The IMF has shown the total size of the federal budget at Rs17.6 trillion, including Rs1.07 trillion for the development spending. The Express Tribune had reported a few days ago that the government would present over Rs17.5 trillion budget. The IMF has shown interest spending at Rs8.7 trillion, the primary budget surplus at Rs2.1 trillion and the overall deficit at Rs6.6 trillion. A new condition has also been imposed on the provinces where the four federating units will implement the new Agriculture Income Tax laws through a comprehensive plan, including the establishment of an operational platform for processing returns, taxpayer identification and registration, a communication campaign, and a compliance improvement plan. The deadline for the provinces is June this year. According to the third new condition, the government will publish a governance action plan based on the recommendations of the Governance Diagnostic Assessment by the IMF. The purpose of the report is to publicly identify reform measures to address critical governance vulnerabilities. The fourth new condition states that the government will give annual inflation adjustment of the unconditional cash transfer programme to maintain people real purchasing power Another new condition states that the government will prepare and publish a plan outlining the government's post-2027 financial sector strategy, outlining the institutional and regulatory environment from 2028 onwards. In the energy sector, four new conditions have been introduced. The government will issue notifications of the annual electricity tariff rebasing by July 1st of this year to maintain energy tariffs at cost recovery levels. It will also issue notification of the semi-annual gas tariff adjustment to maintain energy tariffs at cost recovery levels by February 15, 2026, according to the report. Parliament will also adopt legislation to make captive power levy ordinance permanent by the end of this month, according to the IMF. The government has increased the cost for the industries to force them to shift to the national electricity grid. Parliament will also adopt legislation to remove the maximum Rs3.21 per unit cap on the debt service surcharge, which is tantamount to punishing honest electricity consumers to pay for the inefficiency of the power sector. The IMF and the World Bank dictated that wrong energy policies are causing the accumulation of the circular debt in addition to the government's bad governance. The deadline to remove the cap is the end of June, according to the report. The IMF has also imposed a condition that Pakistan will prepare a plan based on the assessment conducted to fully phase out all incentives in relation to Special Technology Zones and other industrial parks and zones by 2035. The report has to be prepared by the end of this year. In a consumer-friendly condition, the IMF has asked Pakistan to submit to the Parliament all required legislation for lifting all quantitative restrictions on the commercial importation of used motor vehicles (initially only for vehicles less than five years old by end of July. Currently only up to three years old cars can be imported and there are many non-tariff barriers to discourage the import. The purpose of lifting these restrictions is liberalizing trade and increasing vehicle affordability, said the IMF. In addition to imposing new conditions, the IMF has also made adjustments in the earlier conditions. Programme Implementation The IMF has extended the deadlines of four conditions whose implementation had been delayed. The lender said that the government met all seven quantitative performance criteria for end-December 2024. These were floors on net international reserves of the SBP; targeted cash transfer spending; the number of new tax returns from new filers, the ceilings on net domestic assets of the SBP; the SBP's FX swaps; the general government primary budget deficit; and government guarantees. The majority of indicative targets were met at end-December, including the ceilings on the aggregate provincial primary budget deficit; net accumulation of tax refund arrears; and power sector payment arrears; the floors on revenues collected by provincial revenue authorities; and the weighted average maturity of local currency debt securities. However, the conditions on the government health and education spending; net tax revenues collected by the FBR; and net tax revenues collected from retailers under the Tajir Dost scheme were missed, said the IMF. The respective governments also met nine structural benchmarks including on approval of a National Fiscal Pact, improving safeguards for monetary policy operations and approval of amendments to bank resolution and deposit legislation. But the structural benchmark on provincial Agricultural Income Tax legislation was not met at the end-October, but this legislation was subsequently passed in February 2025. Another two structural benchmarks were missed due to delays in passing amendments to the Civil Servants and Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) Acts. Two SBs relating to resolving undercapitalized banks and to captive power producers were missed, but subsequent policy actions are expected to accomplish the underlying objectives, said the IMF.
