400 Shops In Colombo To Be Sealed

By Dileesha Abeysundara

The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) last week began to seal shops and evict pavement hawkers who had failed to pay rent or the appropriate taxes.
Following this decision several store owners in Colombo are facing the threat of having to close their shops as they have not paid their rent or taxes.
There are some 3000 shops and  street hawkers who pay rent and taxes to the Colombo Municipal Council. Of that there are around 400 shops owners who owe the CMC over Rs. 200,000 in rent or taxes and most of them have failed to pay their dues for nearly 10 years.
Overall the CMC is losing over Rs. 87 million due to this.  Last year the CMC had to pay Rs. 261 million as labour cost and part of the money is paid from the rent and taxes obtained from the shop owners in Colombo.
As a result the Colombo Mayor, CMC Commissioner and the Treasurer decided to obtain the dues from the shop owners.
The shops which have failed to pay their rent or taxes and face being sealed by the CMC are mainly located in Pettah – Main Street, Maliban Street, Malwatte Road, Olcott Mawatha, Miraniya Mawatha,  Old Moor Street, some shops opposite the Khan Clock tower, Sea Street, Panchikawatte, Sangarajah Mawatha,  Vauxhall Street,  W.A. Bastian Road and Cross Roads 1, 2, 3 and 4.
When contacted by The Sunday Leader the CMC Treasurer K. D. Widyapala said that the police had been advised to seal shops over the failure to pay the overdue rent despite being given advance notice.
Widyapala said that those shop owners will be given two weeks to pay the full overdue amount to re-open their shops. However failure to meet the two week deadline will result in the shops being retained by the CMC. Shop owners who had asked for time to pay their dues in installments were given a grace period while some paid half of what they owe the CMC. However the CMC was still unable to recover the total sum.
Meanwhile there were also administration issues at the CMC for several years.  CMC members who had contested under the ‘spectacles’ symbol had joined the government and this led to several issues cropping up in the CMC.
Subsequently a special Commissioner was appointed to run the administration of the CMC.
During that period rent and taxes were not collected on time and political interference was also hampering work at the CMC.
As a result the administration of the CMC was at one point directed by government higher-ups which resulted in the failure to collect rent and as a result pushed the CMC towards becoming a loss making authority. So the CMC is now being forced to resort to stricter action to recover its losses. The CMC gets the funds it needs to maintain the city and carry out its operations from rent and taxes.
It therefore needs to strengthen its existing system in collecting rent and taxes.

Shop owners cannot pay 10 years’ rent at once – Traders Association

The Old St. John’s Street Traders Association says shop owners in the area have not been given notice to pay their overdue rent or taxes before a due date.
President of the Association K. Palaniandi said that shops in Pettah re-opened after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year only late last week.
“The CMC should know to collect the rent and taxes at the time it is due instead of waiting for several years and then demanding the overdue amount.  Most shop owners cannot afford to pay money due for 10 years,” he said.
He said that it will be more affordable if the CMC allows the shop owners to first pay 25 percent of their dues and then pay the rest in monthly installments.
“It is far better to warn shop owners that their shops will be sealed if they do not pay the rent than telling them to pay rent overdue for 10 years,” Palaniandi said.

–

Rent should have been collected on time – CMC Commissioner

CMC Commissioner Badrani Jayawardena said that if the rent was collected on time from the shop owners the current situation would not have arisen.
Jayawardena said that there were various reasons why the rent and taxes were not paid by some shop owners.
“Various Commissioners were appointed from time to time. Politicians have also put pressure so that the rent is not charged on some shop owners. There have also been times where shop owners cry and appeal for time when they cannot pay the rent,” Jayawardena said.
This is not only a headache for the shop owners but also for the CMC. The shop owners now have no choice but to pay the overdue rent with the fine, Jayawardena added.