Tenants of industrial estates start protest against IEML

Tenants of the country´s 11 industrial estates will go on protest against the government from Monday. They are protesting the government´s unilateral decision to increase rent of land and buildings inside the industrial estates.
“We will begin our protest form Monday as the government has turned deaf ear to our demand of reviewing the rent hike decision,” Shailendra Lal Pradhan, president of Federation of Industries in Nepal Industrial Estates (FINIE), said.
The businessmen operating factories inside industrial estates were agitated after Industrial Estate Management Limited (IEML) -- the authority overseeing the management of industrial estates -- increased the rent going against the agreement that it reached with FINIE in January.
IEML had raised rent of land and buildings inside industrial estates in January as per the understanding reached with IEML officials. “But later it increased the rate going against the understanding,” Pradhan said. “This is not acceptable.”
FINIE had asked the government to review the decision by Sunday. “Our demands, however, have not been addressed so far,” Pradhan told Republica over phone.
Meanwhile, IEML has invited FINIE officials for talks. "We will sir for talks,” Pradhan said, adding that the rent hike decision should be scrapped unconditionally.
The federation has set programs like submitting memorandums to industry minister and industry secretary, urging political parties for solidarity, and stop paying rent to IEML.
According to the statistics compiled by MoI, 11 industrial estates cover 5,128 ropanis of land in places like Balaju, Patan, Hetauda, Dhanusa, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Dhankuta and Saptari.
Officials of the federation also lambasted IEML for ineffective management of industrial estates. “Industrial estates even don´t have load-shedding schedule. We don´t know when electricity comes and goes,” Pradhan said, “Security at industrial estates is also not satisfactory.”
Private sector has made investment of more than Rs 13 billion in industrial estates. Factories in the industrial estates employ around 25,000 people, according to the federation.