KARACHI: A group of traders who planned to demolish the arson-damaged Boulton Market buildings on Saturday put it off for Monday because of a strike today. They have decided to go ahead even though architects, members of civil society and the cultural heritage advisory council have urged them to protect Karachi’s heritage.
The buildings were damaged by arsonists on Jan 28 in the aftermath of a bomb blast attacking an Ashura procession during Muharram.
“Heritage is not our concern,” said the president of the Anjuman-i-Tajiraan, Rafique Jadoon.
“It is our property and we want to demolish it completely and then reconstruct it.” He plans to supervise the demolition of the buildings on MA Jinnah Road. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) had given the anjuman money to reconstruct the buildings.
While architects and conservationists want to preserve the city’s heritage, the traders want them to be demolished and reconstructed as soon as possible so that business can go back to normal.
The Heritage Foundation of Pakistan declared four buildings on plots MR-50, 51, 52 and 53, worthy of being preserved. They were to be renovated and reconstructed instead of being torn down. The foundation’s chairman Yasmeen Lari told The Express Tribune that they had prepared a report identifying the heritage buildings and the money needed for renovation so that as many of them could be save as possible. They met the Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee soon after the arson attack to plan the preservation process.
“We involved the government’s antiquities department and they were in the process of collecting funds for preservation when these people [traders] came up with their own idea of demolishing the whole structure,” Lari said.
She insisted that the traders had no right to demolish the buildings as they do not even possess building plans and the law requires that all constructions must be approved by the Karachi Building and Control Authority.
It was decided that the buildings will be reconstructed and only the facade, the front of the building, will be preserved as the fire had damaged their foundations, said Lari, adding that the building MR-49 was in better condition so it did not have to be demolished.
Nevertheless, traders claim sole rights to the buildings and insist that they do not want to keep the old facade. Jadoon said that if they keep the facade that is built two feet below the ground, the whole design will be ruined.
Mukhtar Ahmad, who runs a shop in Mashallah Market, said that he has been unemployed for the past six months and is running out of money. “The chamber [KCCI] gave compensation to tenants but those traders, who had rented shops, are now suffering as the structures remain incomplete,” he pointed out.
According to Ahmad, bulldozing these buildings was delayed due to a strike on Saturday but the traders will have another meeting on Monday to come up with a line of action.
On the other hand, Lari suggested that the traders include all stakeholders in their meeting on Monday so that they can come up with a workable solution. Lari said, however, that the traders were breaching the law if they have already planned demolition and construction.
She also pointed out that KCCI assigned one person the two jobs of consultant and contractor, which according to architectural practices is not ethical.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2010.
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