Creek View project to start soon in DHA Phase VIII

KARACHI: An agreement was signed for Creek View, a residential project in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase VIII, on Monday.

The Creek View and Terraces project is an upper-end, independent-unit project located adjacent to Creek Vistas project in Phase VIII. Spread over 43 acres, the project comprises a 300-foot high residential block with 28 floors.

The document-signing ceremony for the land lease took place between the DHA and Creek Developers at DHA’s main office.

The papers were signed in the presence of DHA Administrator Brig. Khalid Tirmizi and Transparency International Chairman Adil Jilani.

Transparency International’s Adil Jilani told The Express Tribune that the project will take time as the tender of the project was called in 2005. “The ceremony marked the signing of only the first instalment of the contract agreement and will take time to be launched formally,” he said.

According to Jilani, the project was supposed to be launched more than four years ago. “The developer must undertake the project under the Cantonment Board Clifton bylaws as required under the bylaws of DHA,” Jilani said. “This project will also have an agreement of a penalty up to a maximum of a four per cent in case of a cancellation or delays in the project.”

Jilani said that according to the agreement, the developer can lose his profit margin in case of delays. “If the booking holders do not get possession in time then the developer will end up paying the bank interest on the current market rate to each buyer of the project,” he explained.

Businessman and real-estate developer Aqeel Karim Dhedhi said that the formal launch for the public of this project will be held soon.

“This is an initiative to promote the construction industry, open up employment opportunities and boost real estate in the country,” said Dhedhi during the ceremony.  He added that the construction on this project will also start soon and it is expected to be completed within three years.

Tirmizi described the initiative between DHA and Dhedhi as a “bold” step forward that will ensure development in the city and help transform the vision of providing quality living environments to the residents of Karachi into a reality. If completed, the project will be Asia’s largest housing project with a total construction area of more than 10 million square feet.

“The finalisation of the lease arrangements is a milestone achievement which will give a boost to the economic regression in the country,” Tirmizi hoped.

NGO Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment has opposed constructions along the coast. Too many projects, especially those involving foreign builders and developers, are launched without Environment Impact Assessments, said Dr Jamil Kazmi, the ex-chairman of the department of geography at Karachi University, at a workshop organised by Shehri in July. Participants of the workshop were told how DHA was dumping waste water into the sea at two points, namely Casino and Bilawal Chowrangi.

Furthermore, Shehri and other vocal town planners have cautioned that if the beaches and coast are taken up by residential projects, the public will not be able to visit these areas freely.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2010.