A YEAR and a half ago, in my column printed on July 27, 1997, I wrote on just one of the mammoth land scams to which the city of Karachi has been subjected :

"In August 1996, in the centre of Karachi, a lake and its peripheral park, together admeasuring 246 acres and notified as a public amenity area, was surreptitiously and illegally commercialized, and an agreement was signed to lease it out to a developer for him to thereupon build commercial property for pecuniary gain.

"Is there anyone in this land of ours who is prepared to believe that this could have been done without the tacit approval or active connivance of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, her Chairman of the Environment Protection Agency doubling as her Minister of Investment, Asif Zardari, her now absconding Chief Minister in Sindh, Abdullah Shah, his now absent adviser, 'Tony Casino', and all their concerned ministers and official abettors?

"And, is there anyone who could believe that such an agreement could have been made without a lot of money changing hands under the table ?

"We go back twentyfive years. Under instructions from President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his faithful Minister for Housing, Town Planning and Local Government in Sindh, the inimical Jam Sadiq Ali, had a scheme prepared for the development of the Clifton area of Karachi, and this then well planned area notified as Kahkashan, KDA Scheme 5, Clifton, was born. On December 6, 1972, the President approved the plan for implementation, whereafter, from 'Day One', all those empowered with 'discretion' to amend or change or relax rules and regulations, have so done, with impunity and regularity, for their own nefarious gain.

"Amenity Block No.6, admeasuring 246 acres of the notified Scheme 5, comprises a seawater lake of 192 acres and a peripheral park area of 54 acres. This tidal lake, a portion of the eastern backwater of the port, within the jurisdiction of the Karachi Port Trust, is also known as 'The Boating Basin'. A stone embankment was constructed to contain the water, and the fenced in area was handed over by the lessors, the KDA, to the KMC for development.

"Come the third PPP government, and in August 1994 it was decided to develop ponds for performing dolphins and seals and to build and operate an amusement park on 10 acres of the 246-acre area. International offers were invited. The only offer received was from the firm of Marine Animal Productions (MAP) in Gulfport, Mississippi, USA. The firm's professionals came to Karachi, discussed the project, and on March 28, 1995, a letter of intent was issued by the KMC informing MAP that they had been selected and that the KMC would negotiate with them exclusively. 'Terms of reference and guidelines' were formulated by the Parks Department and approved by the Legal Department of the KMC, envisaging the licensing of 5 acres of land and 5 acres of water to the licensees.

"Then came the marauders. The MAP was sidelined without assigning any reason, the terms of reference were shelved. In June 1995, the project was taken over by the KMC Engineering Department and the Chief Engineer advertised in Jang on the 25th of that month announcing that : 'In compliance with Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's Karachi Socio-Economic Package' public offers were invited to build, own and operate 'A dolphin park and sea-sports complex at Boating Basin, Clifton - the Diamond District of Karachi.'

"Six local builders, developers, entrepreneurs submitted offers and the KMC selected developers Dolmen (Pvt) Ltd. After negotiations, the KMC Administrator Anzar Zaidi signed an agreement on August 19, 1996, with Dolmen's Managing Director Nadeem Riaz, son of Feroz Gittoo. The agreement, inter alia , envisages the leasing out to Dolmen all of the 246 acres for a period of 30 years and enables the KMC to 'consider to extend the lease for such period and on such reasonable terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed' between the two parties. It also permits Dolmen to construct on 34 per cent of the total land and water area 'buildings and structures of all kinds relating to the components defined in Clause 1 of the Agreement.' The 'components' include administration/office blocks, amphitheatres, exhibition centres (shops?), food outlets (shops?), merchandizing outlets (shops), games and other outlets, bowling alleys, billiard rooms, etc. It also envisages that 'the components shall, where appropriate, be updated and improved from time to time under intimation to KMC.' Of note are the words 'shall' and 'intimation'. No prior approval of the KMC is necessary.

"Thus, Dolmen is virtually entitled to build and lease out a string of commercial complexes over an area of 84 acres (406,560 sq yds) of real estate now conservatively estimated to be worth some Rs. 25 billion.

"In return, Dolmen is expected to provide recreational facilities and will be responsible for 'the diversion of sewerage from Nahr-e-Khayyam and the inlets from Chinna Creek.' It will pay to the KMC, by way of royalty, five per cent of the fees charged for entrance to the amusement park, with a minimum of Rs.5 per person. The lease rental for the total area has been fixed at Paisas 50 per square foot per annum (which with 'exemptions', totals Rs. 1,176,120 for the first year), compoundingly increasing by 15 per cent per annum,

"Come this government, come Federal Nawaz and Provincial Liaquat Jatoi, and instead of cancelling and nullifying the disastrous agreement, they authorized the execution of a lease deed which was executed on February 23, 1997, by the Land Department of the KMC. However, the Diamond District can still be saved. Neither has the 'The Master Plan' submitted by Dolmen on May 22, 1997, been approved by the KMC, nor has physical possession of the area been handed over to Dolmen.

"Block 6 is not the only block in the Diamond District that is being savagely desecrated. For reasons that no one can satisfactorily explain, the planning and building control jurisdiction of Blocks 8 and 9 have been handed over to the Clifton Cantonment Board. KDA, the lessor of these areas, maintains that plots 5 and 6 (between 'Yusuf Grand Square' and the PBS petrol pump) in Block 8, on the main Clifton Road, have not been legally and properly converted from residential to commercial plots, but complains that the CCB has approved plans for commercial highrises now being constructed thereon. Booking offices have opened - in Yousuf Grand Square for plot 5, and in the 'CTC Continental Trade Centre' for plot 6.

"Similarly, residential plot G-7, in Block No 9 (on the corner of the main Clifton Road at the very busy road junction next to the Two Talwar roundabout) has not been legally commercialized but the CCB has allowed thereon the construction of 'The Plaza', a complex of 150 shops and 130 offices......."

On July 29 1997, the matter of the Boating Basin having been brought to the attention of the then Additional Chief Secretary of Sindh, Ahmed Maqsood Hameedee, he addressed the following letter to me :

"In response to your letter of 27.7.97 I have to inform you that the necessary instructions have been issued to the KMC to cancel the lease and to nullify the transaction.

"The status of the plot (246 acres) remains unchanged. The area will remain as it is, as originally planned, as an amenity to be freely enjoyed by the people of Karachi."

No action was ever taken by the KMC. Mr Hameedee's instructions were ignored. Now, at the end of 1999, Anzar Zaidi, the KMC administrator, who signed the agreement with Dolmen in 1996 (an agreement heavily weighted in Dolmen's favour), is the provincial secretary HTP, in charge of the KMC. Should he be in that position?

Fahim Zaman, the KMC administrator when the scam was conceived in 1994, the man said to be the brains behind the entire dubious deal, is now back in the same post. Should he be where he is?

As for the Karachi Port Trust, it should immediate claim back the portion of the eastern backwater lost to it by the misdoings of those in positions of power.

Over to NAB, to suitably deal with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, former environmental champion Asif Zardari, former chief minister of Sindh, Abdullah Shah, former KPT chairman Rear Admiral Akbar Hussain Khan, and all the other dedicated servants of the people responsible for the Clifton Boating Basin scam.