The Gentrification of Karachi’s Coastline
Socio-economic issues also surfaced, such as, fishing communities will be deprived of their income and livelihoods; hawkers/jugglers/performers, etc. have already gotten replaced by expensive food outlets and after further development, the lower middle income groups will be further marginalized; and people with plots and houses along the beach will no longer be able to view the sea.
The DHA argued that the project will provide employment. Civil society organisations argued that a project of a different nature could also bring in profits and employment. The DHA also argued that katchi abadis would develop along the coast if this project was not initiated. Civil society organisations pointed out that this was unlikely as not an inch of land can be occupied without the connivance of the development agencies.
The media initially gave prominence to the negative aspects of the project but soon stopped focusing on it. Informally, one of the TV channels informed the chairperson URC that since Emaar’s ads were a major source of revenue, they could not criticise Emaar’s projects.
The civil society organisations involved in opposition to the project worked as a network. They were: Sahil Bachao, an organization consisting of prominent citizens including two retired judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Shehri for a Better Environment, it is a Karachi based NGO, popularly known as Shehri and has a long tradition of struggling for better governance and imposition of bylaws as well as building regulations pertaining to land use. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), it is a network of fishing communities. Mahigeer Tehreek, it is a network of fishing communities. Dharti, it is a civil society organization formed for promoting a better physical and social environment for Karachi and was created as a response to the three projects listed above. And Urban Resource Centre, which also collected 5,000 signatures opposing the project from low income areas and schools.
Civil society opposition consisted of court cases, forums, demonstrations, walks, and writings in the press and making of films. Finally, the project was suspended and the president presented the DHA beach as a “gift” to the people of Karachi. However, Emaar’s 2.4 billion dollar Crescent Bay project of 4,000 luxury apartments on reclaim land, continues.
3. Sugarland City
Sugarland city was initiated in 2006. It involved the development (privatization) of the city’s public beaches at Hawksbay, Sandspit, Manora and Cape Monze. Around 26,000 hectares of land (size of Washington) with total investment of US$ 68 billion was to be given to Limitless, a Dubai based company launched by Dubai World. The “new city” was to contain residential, commercial, recreational and entertainment facilities “in state of the art, master-planned communities”.
An MoU was signed between Pakistan’s Minister of State and Privatization and investment and Dubai World chairman. At a high level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on June 24, 2006, a number of important directives were given to different ministries including those of Ports and Shipping, Defence, as well as the Government of Sindh. It was decided that that a premature cancellation of leases would take place as individuals have huts located there, which are given to them on lease. It was also decided that there should be a proper mechanism for shifting the navy and cantonment board’s facilities located at Manora to the navy land at Cape Monze to make vacant land available to Limitless.
The main opposition to the project came from the Pakistan Mahigeer Tahreek (the Movement of the Indigenuous Coastal Fisherfolk Communities of Pakistan). They produced a position letter referring to the project as “Development to Destroy Nature and Displace People” (September, 2007). The letter was an outcome of consultations with various stakeholders especially local communities. The letter pointed out that the project posed a threat to the Ecosystem since Hawkesbay, which was being built over, was a major breeding point of the green turtle. In addition, the Sandspit back waters contain mangroves (which the project would destroy) and which are the resting place to migratory birds and serve as a nursery for shrimp and several fish species. Also, mangroves are used for fodder and fuel by local fishing communities.
The letter also pointed out that fishing communities have been living on the coast for centuries and that the project will have far reaching impacts on their livelihood since their survival is dependent on subsistence fishing and beach related leisure activities. More than a hundred villages were coming within the project area and their future had not been even mentioned in the project proposal. One thing was certain that even if this survived, they would have no access to the sea. In addition, the letter pointed out that no details have been given regarding compensating and benefiting the affected local communities and that given past records, one cannot expect the government for fulfilling its promises.
The letter also mentioned that lower and lower middle income Karachiites will no longer be able to go to the beaches in search of recreation and entertainment and this will increase the divide between the rich and poor in the city.
The letter and consultations were followed up by public demonstrations and a systematic press campaign. Meetings were also held with the Chief Secretary, Sindh, in which various land departments who had been asked to surrender their lands to the project were also invited along with prominent civil society individuals. The URC’s position that the interests of the four stakeholders in this dispute should be respected was also endorsed. These stakeholders were the flora and fauna of the coast and its creeks, fishing communities, lower and lower middle income groups who use the beaches for recreation and entertainment, and the land owning individuals and agencies. The URC’s position is spelt out in the attached paper (Appendix – 3).
Because of opposition from all segments of society, Limitless backed out of the project in 2009.
4. Sale of Islands for Development of Diamond Bar City
The other mega project was the proposal for the building of the Diamond Bar City. Port Qasim Authority (PQA) had decided to sell two of the islands under its control (Bundal and Buddo) to Emaar (one of the world’s largest real estate companies). The islands measure about 4,800 hectares and were to be sold for US$ 42 billion. Access to the islands is only by boat and so a US$ 50 million bridge was proposed by the federal government connecting the islands to DHA. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between PQA officials, Irfanullah Marwat (representing the Sindh Government) and Emaar representatives. PQA planned to develop a mega project in collaboration with Emaar which aimed to develop 15,000 housing units and commercial facilities. The project also involved the construction of residential, commercial and leisure real estate projects, industrial park, free trade zones and port terminals at an estimated cost of US$ 43 billion within 13 years.
This project drew the strongest response from the Fisherfolk Forum, World-wild Life Fund, and fishing communities from all over the province. The WWF pointed out that the Indus delta is the fifth largest delta in the world and these islands are protected under international commitment as Pakistan since 1976 has been a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, which is focused on the conservation of Wetlands. Wetlands were also described by WWF as being ‘environmentally sensitive’ zones and any development in them should be subject to assessments under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997. The other issues raised by WWF included the fact that the Pakistan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Sindh Government Medium Term Development Framework talk about a commitment to improve natural ecosystems by increasing forest cover but the contrary will happen as the islands are developed and that the sea is already polluted with 300 MGD (million gallons daily) of the city’s untreated waste and construction of the new city would further pollute the waters, causing great threat to marine life.
There was also a general agreement between all stakeholders that the destruction of the mangroves on the islands would have seriously repercussions for the fisherfolk since most of fish life that they exploited was born in these mangroves. Statements that man-made forest plantation would compensate for the destruction of the mangroves were ridiculed by the ecologists.
