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The Rent Control Department in 2013 successfully settled 30,456 out of 64,456 cases it received from both landlords and tenants, Mr Addo Soin Dombo, Chief Rent Controller told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Thursday. A total of 15,345 cases were also referred to the courts for redress, while 18,655 are still pending before the Department. He said last year, the Department, in collaboration with some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) was able to open new offices in nine districts. The districts include Akatsi, Kpando and Denu, in the Volta Region, Yendi and Bimbilla in the Northern Region, Jirapa, Lawra and Wa in the Upper West Region, and Weija in the Greater Accra Region. He lauded Alhaji Habib Tijani, Member of Parliament (MP) for Yendi for furnishing and equipping the Yendi Office with computers and appealed to other MMDAs and MPs to emulate the gesture. Mr Dombo said the Department had 45 offices nationwide, which was woefully inadequate, adding that, in districts where they had no offices, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative was compelled to take up rent cases which was outside the Commission�s mandate. He said plans were underway for the opening of an additional 25 new district Offices this year, but lamented that the Department was facing serious financial constraints in carrying out its mandate. He said the Department�s subventions for 2013 had not been released and this had made it practically impossible for them to pay contractors for work done, declaring that their projects were at a standstill. The Chief Rent Controller mentioned that on-going office complex projects such as a two-storey complex in Wa, which was 40 per cent completed, a single storey in Jirapa, 55 per cent complete, the rehabilitation of the Tema Office and the Head Office in Accra were 95 per cent and 90 per cent complete respectively. Mr Dombo said their Nkronza Office complex, which cost GH₡9,800.00, was completed and handed over to them in June 2012, but the contractor has not yet been paid. He said some of the contractors had threatened to take legal action against them, and appealed to government to release their subvention, to enable them to pay the contractors. Mr Dombo said for the past two years, the only pickup vehicle of the Department had broken down, making it difficult for management to supervise the activities of its staff. He said this year, through the intervention of Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the Department was able to acquire a Navada Pickup vehicle from its sister Department, the Hydrological Services Department, which he said was going to increase productivity at the Department. He appealed to government and the Ministry to help with additional three or four pickup vehicles to enhance their work. Mr Dombo also urged the Finance Ministry to speed up works on the processing of emoluments for the recruitment of new staff to replace retired staff.