Industrialists who traverse these roads daily dread bringing their new cars to this filthy place. PHOTO: HTTP://WWW.SITE.COM.PK
Ironically, the largest sty in the world is located in the land of the pure. In fact it is in Karachi, and is known as the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE). It is an industrial estate home to over 3,000 industries, shops and warehouses. SITE is managed by a quasi-government organisation called SITE Ltd, while its ‘tenants’ are represented by the SITE Association of Industry.
But why, you may ask, is this estate (which contributes approximately 28% to the nation’s treasury, mind you) dubbed a mere ‘sty’?
The answer lies in a of this 4,500-acre estate.
I once wrote a satirical letter to the editor that the US was looking for Osama bin Laden (OBL) in all the wrong places. OBL was probably hiding in SITE all along, I said, because the estate looked so much like a place like Tora Bora would. Unfortunately, today it is not even fit to be compared to that.
The 4,500-acre estate has been turned into a cesspool of filth and violence. PHOTO: EXPRESS
From the moment you pass through one of SITE’s many entry points – be it from Banaras Colony, or from Mauripur Road, or from Nazimabad, or from Metroville – till the time you leave the estate, you would undoubtedly agree that SITE is a rather ugly sight. The infrastructure has totally collapsed and roads are full of potholes, drowned in stagnant water and so bumpy that motorcyclists find it hard to handle their vehicles.
Industrialists who traverse these roads daily dread bringing their new cars to this filthy place. Commuters travelling on buses usually sit on the roof, performing acrobatic feats in an attempt to save themselves from falling off. The worst nightmare is travelling on the side roads or lanes. These are akin to the rocky and steep mountains one may find in Balochistan or Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
SITE is blatantly encroached on by whoever pays the piper. Makeshift huts are found on every corner: these shops sell food, betel leaves, oil, and just about everything else. Even the drains are encroached. Janitorial staff is seldom seen in the area. The whole estate is filled with unpicked garbage that, at times, spills over onto the roads and lanes. Political slogans, threats from ethno-religious political elements, remedies for male impotence and haemorrhoids and advertisements for educational institutions can be found sprayed rudely on nearly every wall in the area: even obelisks, billboards and curb stones have not been spared by aspiring graffiti artists.
Things become all the more difficult and frustrating when petty criminals start staking out the dilapidated roads to hunt the vehicles which slow down. They snatch cell phones and wallets conveniently, confidently and shamelessly.
The 4,500-acre estate has been turned into a cesspool of filth and violence. PHOTO: HTTP://WWW.SITE.COM.PK
The administrators of the estate rarely leave their offices. However, we are repeatedly reassured that the concerned minister will regularly visit SITE Ltd. Why? Who knows. But the sad fact is that SITE has crumbled and is probably beyond repair. I have to ask, what happened to the millions in development allocation for the estate? Where have the funds gone?
The 4,500-acre estate has been turned into a cesspool of filth and violence. PHOTO: ONLINE
The SITE Association of Industry is no more a strong body. It has no voice, where once it was called the ‘voice of industry’. The Association leadership and senior members (including me) are concentrating more on the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The other industrialists and traders operating in SITE have accepted that it is better to be quiet and, when needed, pay bribes and get things done. After all, there is no other option left.
Hashim B Sayeed, former chairman and a founder of the SITE Association of Industry, once lost his calm and, with disdain and scorn in his voice, termed SITE a “pigsty”. How very right he was!
The writer is an industrialist and a businessman active on various local and international business forums
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.
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This malaise affects the whole country.
First and foremost, we try to find someone else that is responsible for the filth. Once we realize that it up to each and every individual, only then can any place be cleaned up. Why don't the industrialists take it upon themselves to clean the place up ? That is what SITE admin is supposed to be for, not lobbying to the government. I assume that SITE businesses pay a fee to SITE admin, why don't they question where the money is going ?
What about the businesses dumping hazardous directly into the stream ? And they expect the government to clean up their mess. Please refer to my point above.
This all goes back to the culture of having someone else clean up after you. If you were responsible for your own mess, whether outside and even in the lavatory, you would be much more careful in where you throw the mess or using the facility.
So much for cleanliness being half the iman.
For a moment I thought he was talking about the whole of Karachi!!
Zero admin., funds in pockets, no ownership, no law and order, no discipline. Therefore no big surprise.
@Site Traveller Will you please point out, what is the product that Siemens produces in Pakistan?
I worked for a major multinational for many years in the SITE area and have been witness to the gradual depression. I believe it still can be saved but it needs proper funding, accountability to turn it around. Its a wonder administrators can be this uninterested; a wonder that so many major multinationals like SIEMENS, GSK , Phillips had/have their manufacturing in the area and the place is in such a state
Photo of labourers toiling for meage daily wages, caption: The 4,500-acre estate has been turned into a cesspool of filth and violence