Operators of parks and gardens in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be forced to pay six years of ground rent arrears in not more than three installments following the lifting of the embargo on ground rent collection.
The Director of the FCT Department of Parks and Recreation, Riskatu Abdulazeez announced this at a stakeholder meeting with the Association of Parks Operators, over the weekend.
She noted that the department has granted a waiver of 75% for the year 2020 and 25% for the year 2021, due to the COVID- 19 pandemic.
Ms. Abdulazeez also revealed that the price of the rent has not been reviewed as it is still N10 per square metre (sqm).
She informed them that the department is set to streamline all the activities in parks and gardens in the FCTwhile calling on them to fill their data forms adequately.
Furthermore, the director encouraged the operators to always settle their concerns at the department rather than the courts.
She also said she met about 26 cases, but had resolved about ten out of court.
In their response, the members of the association appealed to the administration to look into the ground rent arrears collection and waive more years for them.
They also listed the challenges they face in the hands of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) as well as multiple taxations.
In 2016, the FCT Administration placed an embargo on the collection of ground rent from parks and garden operators.
