The planned $3.5 billion plan to redevelop and expand Karachi’s coast could well be the “game-changer” promised by the government, as long as it is properly managed. The Karachi Coastal Co¬m-prehensive Develop¬ment Zone will be built under CPEC using “direct Chinese investment”, rather than loans. That would normally be welcome news, if not for the fact that we are still awaiting the nitty-gritty of the project, such as how ownership and control of the new zone will be split.
Among the few details on ownership that we have been offered since the first cryptic tweet from Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi was a statement about its “enormous potential for global investors”. This could go either way, with the area quickly developing into an economic engine for the whole country, or, if improperly managed, becoming an exclusive enclave for foreign interests. We hope government planners try their best to ensure that it is the former.
The project itself is among the most ambitious sub-CPEC projects, including the addition of new port berths, upgradation of the Machhar Colony slum and relocation of its residents, water treatment facilities, and connecting Manora Island and Sandspit beach. Much of the “environment-friendly” project is to be built on reclaimed land currently controlled by the Karachi Port Trust — almost 1,600 acres.
A lot of the project’s success will depend on the government’s ability to satisfactorily relocate hundreds of thousands of residents of Machhar Colony, which is one of the country’s largest slums.
Zaidi noted that the project could be completed in “five or six years”, meaning that the incumbent PTI government in Islamabad and the PPP government in Karachi will have to work together to meet this target, which in itself is no easy task. That said, we hope they can find a way to make this work, not just for the benefit of shipping, fishing, Karachi or Sindh, but the country as a whole. This is because the project — though primarily intended to bolster and expand the ‘blue economy’ — would create commercial opportunities beyond fishing though the expansion of the port and establishment of a massive new city area.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2021.
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