KARACHI: Niamat asks Centre to rescind accord with Dubai firm
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 19: Former City Nazim Niamatullah Khan has criticised the federal government’s announcement to build an ultra-modern model city on the twin islands — Bundal and Buddo.
Speaking at a press conference, he said it was an attempt to deprive the metropolis of a science and technology city. But added that the Karachiites would not allow this conspiracy to succeed.
He said the islands were the property of the provincial government, but the federal government had bypassed the Sindh government while deciding their fate in sheer violation of provincial autonomy.
“If this decision was not reviewed, the entire province will join the Karachiites in their protest.”
Mr Khan demanded repeal of the agreement, and demanded issuance of orders for promotion of the proposed IT city.
He recalled that during his tenure, an agreement was signed on Oct 7, 2002 to develop the “Karachi Technology Island City” on the twin islands with the collaboration of the Army Welfare Trust, the EDP Services, Pakistan Software Houses Association (Pasha) and the Excess Capital of Thailand.
Under the agreement, the above firms had agreed to provide technical assistance, investment arrangement and development while the city government had to provide 300 acres land on the islands for developing the project. The agreement, which was a memorandum of understanding, was counter-signed by the then federal minister Dr Atta-ur-Rehman as chief guest.
Pointing out he said the Thai firm, which is one of the partners in the project, had received positive response from international companies --IBM, Intel, and Hyundai while the OIC, Islamic Development bank and the Malaysian government had also assured of their cooperation.
He said this project after some efforts of the city district government could be developed at par with the Silicon Valley of the US, Multimedia Centre of Malaysia, Internet Media City of Dubai and the IT City of Bangalore which had generated new jobs to absorb unemployed youths and provided opportunities of business to industrialists.
Mr Khan said that Pakistan could earn billions of dollars by entering the IT technology era.“For the elite class, there are many posh areas in Karachi and there is no need to add more posh areas by developing a city on the model of Dubai. If the Dubai-based construction firm, instead of developing an elite city, works out some residential projects for the poor population of Karachi who are badly in need of shelters, it would be more beneficial.”
He said at the end of his tenure as Nazim, he had laid the foundation stone of many important construction projects and out of those many projects had completed and on others work was in progress.
The KIT City project would play an exemplary role in the development of the city, but it appears as if the eyes of the federal government were over the islands and it wanted to disposed them to the Dubai based firm.
He expressed surprise over the silence of the city government only because the project was conceived by the former city government.
Sarfraz Ahmad and Rashid Qureshi were also present.
