ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has approved in principle the development of Diamond Bar Island City off Port Qasim in 13 years at a cost of $43.135 billion, officials told Dawn on Wednesday.

They said the prime minister had directed the ministry of ports and shipping to work out comprehensive details within three months on whether the ambitious project, to be sited at Bundal-Buddo islands, would have any adverse environmental or other hydrological effect.

Though several ministers had objected to various aspects of the project during the recent Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting, it was still approved with some observations about redressing the objections.

Concerns expressed about the huge project range from ownership of the two islands to operational requirements of the navy.

Matters relating to the demarcation of the islands, dispute resolution mechanism and non-performance liabilities in the event of non-execution of the project are some of the other main concerns.

A major question is whether the shipping ministry has the capacity to look into all the areas before embarking on the huge project, which would be developed on the pattern of the Diamond Bar City in the United States.

According to official documents, the shipping ministry had informed the ECC that Port Qasim Authority (PQA) planned to develop the mega project in collaboration with Emaar.

It would be a combination of residential, commercial, and leisure real estate projects, industrial parks, free trade zone and port terminals over 12,000 acres.