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The Rent Control Department has appealed to the Ministry of Finance to expedite action on its proposal to be allowed to generate income to fund its activities. The department said its sector ministry; the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing had endorsed the proposal and was now waiting for the Ministry of Finance to approve its request. The Chief Rent Officer, Mr Addo Soin Dombo, speaking in an interview, said the department submitted the proposal in 2008 but was yet to receive approval. He said for instance that the department could generate funds from the sale of rent cards, which was mandatory for all landlords to obtain; charges on filing cases; charges for applying for assessment of cases as well as 10 per cent charges for getting landlords to pay their property rate and rent tax. Mr Dombo said the department currently did not charge its clients for the services it rendered to them, even though it was common knowledge that some clients paid money to officers attending to them, �and such money goes directly to individual pockets.� Cash-strapped He said the department was cash-strapped and was currently facing the threat of getting its offices locked up by contractors who worked for it and had not been paid, adding that since 2012, the department had not received any budgetary allocation. On human resource, Mr Dombo said the Rent Control Department had a staff strength of only 34, instead of 130, a situation which he described as disturbing He said the Greater Accra Regional office received on the average, 60 daily complaints with only three officers to handle them, stressing that the work was too much for them. He said ordinarily, an officer was supposed to handle 10 cases daily since they took complaints in long hand and, therefore, appealed to the government to also retool the department to enable it deliver its mandate.