Development or destruction?

international | environment | other press

Tuesday October 03, 2006 19:51

by Qasim Rajpar

The Government of Pakistan has made a contract with UAE based construction firm regarding construction of a new city of international standard on the threshold of Port Qasim. It is planned that the new city of international standards will be built on the twin islands of Bundar and Buddo, located close to the port Qasim and the design of the proposed city will be prepared on the pattern of that of Dubai. The estimated cost of the mega project has been put at $.43 billion.

Indus delta in Sindh

Karachi Pakistan:The Government of Pakistan has made a contract with UAE based construction firm regarding construction of a new city of international standard on the threshold of Port Qasim. It is planned that the new city of international standards will be built on the twin islands of Bundar and Buddo, located close to the port Qasim and the design of the proposed city will be prepared on the pattern of that of Dubai. The estimated cost of the mega project has been put at $.43 billion.
Emaar, with 85 per cent equity in the project, will build homes and apartments at Bundal and Buddo Islands over 13 years, Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Pakistan government's economic adviser, said in Islamabad.
Emaar, the largest company traded on the Dubai Financial Market, aims to build thousands of homes, schools, shopping malls and hospitals stretching from Morocco to India. The company is aiming to tap real estate demand in Pakistan, a US$129bn (Dh466bn) economy forecast to expand seven per cent this fiscal year, compared with 6.6 per cent last year.
Emaar "will build new cities” in the islands, Khan said. Pakistan's Port Qasim, which has 15 per cent stake in the project, will provide the land to Emaar. Aziz in May said the economy will grow at an annual pace of as much as eight per cent, helping to reduce poverty in a nation of 160 million people.
Political parties and common people of southern SINDH province started agitation against the decision of federal government, they claim that this is a political decision and it is against the original peoples of the land.
Pakistan Fisher folk Forum strongly condemns this decision of construction the new city of the Karachi coast line. Opposing this devilish plan, Pakistan Fisher folk Forum is of the view that it would put colossal negative impact on the lives and livelihood of local fishing communities, that is, this project is totally anti-human and illegitimate in its essence. PFF has invariably rejected any development process which is done at the expense of live and livelihood of poor people.
The construction of the new city would result in poverty and hunger among 8 million fisher folk historically inhabitations of coast and traditionally earning their livelihood at Karachi coast.
Besides the destruction of basic and traditional source of livelihood of the poor fishing communities, it would render the entire marine ecological system terribly unsustainable. Hundreds of fishing grounds would be annihilated. The unemployment ratio among poor fisher folk will dramatically increase. Mangroves forests, which are already being rapidly destroyed, will suffer more due construction of new city.
With the passage of time new and more investors will surge into the areas and will invest and earn at the cost of lives of poor people.
Ironically the federal government has done contract on its own without informing the Sindh government. This has recently been expressed by chief minister of Sindh Arbab Rahim. He opined that neither he has been informed nor he has got any update about it.
PFF condemns this decision which is sheer violation of human rights and dignity and appeals national, international, media, social, human rights and development experts to immediately intervene into the matter and save the lives and livelihood of the poor people of these islands.
PFF has vowed to initiate an intense campaign against it in case government is still stick to it within considering its blatant losses.
qasimrajpar@gmail.com