Sindh

Cantonment board halts demolition of Sea Breeze Plaza

Operation is suspended temporarily, will be resumed within next two days, say board officials

Our Correspondent June 27, 2019

The dilapidated building is to be demolished as per Supreme Court’s orders. Traders complain they were given only 15 days to vacate the building where they have goods worth billions of rupees stored. PHOTOS: EXPRESS

KARACHI: The Karachi Cantonment Board (KCB) has left the operation to demolish the 13-story dilapidated Sea Breeze Plaza on MA Jinnah Road unfinished, which was initiated on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

So far, eaves on the building had been removed with the use of heavy machinery, under the supervision of the Karachi Cantonment Board officials.

According to cantonment board officials, the operation has been suspended temporarily and it would resume within the next two days.

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Sea Breeze Plaza comprises only commercial units and the operation has adversely affected the businesses of traders whose offices are housed in the building. The traders complain that razing the building will displace them, eventually impacting their incomes and households.

"Where will we go if the building is razed?" asked one business owner, requesting anonymity. The building has existed for many years, he remarked.

Traders also claimed that the report of National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK), determining how withered the building's structure is, was yet to come. However, SCP has issued orders for its demolition before the release of the report, they complained.

They maintained that goods worth billions of rupees were kept inside the building which could be damaged during the operation, expressing concerns that they were given only 15 days to vacate the building.

According to them, the KCB has outsourced the demolition of the building to contractors.

Traders appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff and Prime Minister Imran Khan, to suspend the operation until NESPAK completes its investigation and releases a report.

The apex court's Karachi registry had ordered the KCB to take immediate measures for razing the Sea Breeze Plaza, on May 9, this year, declaring that the building imperiled citizens' lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2019.