ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: Civil society organisations have warned the government against going ahead with the proposed Diamond Bar Island City Project, saying any such initiative would face tough resistance, particularly from the 500,000 strong fishing community in Karachi.

These remarks were made by Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Chairperson Mohammad Ali Shah, People’s Rights Movement (PRM)’s Aasim Sajjad and Mustafa Talpur of ActionAid at a press conference held the camp office of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club.

The PFF and PRM representatives said a coordinated plan of protest had been outlined to force the government into scrapping the project, and that efforts were being made to generate support for the resistance movement from all walks of life including political parties, professional organisations and intellectuals.

Meanwhile, speakers at a seminar on Monday sought immediate reversal of the Island City project, saying it would endanger livelihood of millions of indigenous people as well as marine life.

The seminar on ‘Diamond Bar Island City: A Development Or Disaster Project’, was organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Karachi.

The prime minister has approved in principle the development of the Island City off Port Qasim in a period of 13 years at a cost of $43.135 billion.

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Chairman Mohammad Ali Shah said the project would not only add to the sufferings of the indigenous people of the area, but also pose a threat to its natural beauty and resources as well as environment. More importantly, over five million fishermen from Karachi District and Tatha would also be deprived of their livelihood.

He said the indigenous fishermen had been surviving on sea resources for ages, and commissioning of such a huge project would directly affect their livelihood. In the past, too, such mega projects were launched, and hundreds of displaced fishermen were properly compensated.

Mr Shah criticised the government for planning to commercialise all 300 islands in the area. He said the mega city project was a violation of many national and international commitments made by the government, including Ram Sir Convention of 1971. He said the fishermen were much disturbed by the plan to build a city on the twin islands.

Naseer Memon of Leads, Pakistan, called for collective resistance against the project on various grounds. He said Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was mandatory for any development project exceeding the limit of Rs50 million under Pakistan Environment Protection Act 1997.

He said no EIA had been done which was another grave violation of the Act. He, however, stressed that livelihood of millions of indigenous people and precious sea life should be saved. Keeping in view the project’s environmental and bio- diversity impacts, many reputable bodies such as IUCN and the WWF have already raised many technical questions, he added.

People’s Party Parliamentarians’ MNA Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad said the selling of two islands to a foreign company was not an isolated issue, but a continuity of the government’s privatisation policy of selling national assets to foreign companies at throwaway prices.

He urged the participants to lodge a strong protest to compel the rulers to abandon the ‘disastrous’ project. “Only a strong protest in the parliament, particularly in the Sindh Assembly, can force the government to cancel the project,” he maintained.

Karamat Ali of Pakistan Institutes of Labour Education and Research, Karachi, said there was no rule of law, and repeated violations of the Constitution by the rulers had become order of the day. He said Port Qasim Authority was not entitled to signing a deal concerning the Island City project as it did not own the land, and was itself a leaseholder.

He said by signing the deal, the government was violating not only the domestic laws and regulations, but also various UN conventions and treaties which guaranteed the social, economic and cultural rights of the people.

Dr Aly Ercelan, an economist, lamented that it was not a matter of development, but of democracy in the country. He said the construction plans of the mega projects had exposed the non- participation and non-consideration of provincial and local governments in the decision-making as they had been completely excluded from the process of privatisation of such important public enterprises.