Some traders in Port Harcourt have called on the Federal Government to enact a law to regulate house rents in the country.

The traders, who spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, decried the incessant increase of house rents by landlords in the area.

They said that landlords were insensitive and called on the government to enact a law to regulate house rents in the country.

Madam Edith Mark, a Port Harcourt-based trader, said that a room in Diobu, Port Harcourt, which was N2.00 in 1983, had gone up to N5, 000.00 this year.

“The increase in the past 29 years is amazing; people doubt it whenever I told them that my husband paid N2.00 for the same room we are now asked to pay N5, 000.

“The same man that collected N2.00 in 1983 is the same person that collects N5, 000.00 today and will continue in this attitude if not checked by the law,” she said.

Another trader, Mr Emeka Nna, said that he got a shop for N2, 000.00 in 1993, but  the rent had shot up to N10, 000.00.

“It’s surprising that some products I deal on over these years have maintained very slight price differentials, while the hike on rent has remained non-negotiable,” he said.

Mr Udeme Paul, another trader, said that landlords believed that every resident in Port Harcourt was rich because of the oil companies.

“Over 80 per cent of Port Harcourt residents neither work nor do business in the oil sector. Let’s consider that civil servants and the common man are all part of this city,” he said.

Paul advised Federal Government to consider the incessant increase in house rents as a national concern and treat it as such.