Fortified diplomacy: New diplomatic enclave project shelved

Stalemate between locals of Malpur village and paucity of funds are the reasons.


Azam Khan January 04, 2011

ISLAMABAD: After much debate, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has put the project of New Diplomatic Enclave into dormancy. The project proposed to accommodate embassies, foreign missions and their offices currently operating in the residential areas of the capital city.

Expressing dismay over the “lack of resolve” shown by the authority, officials told The Express Tribune on Monday that CDA Board was not interested in addressing the matter for residents who are being affected by diplomatic presence in their neighbourhood.

“Instead of finalising the arrangements to develop a new diplomatic enclave, CDA Board gave importance to an irrelevant issue on the dictation of the federal cabinet,” said an official, referring to changes in ICT regulations for allowing construction in Zone-3 of the capital city, where construction is prohibited.

The residents of the capital have approached the CDA and lodged complaints about the embassies and foreign mission offices present near their homes several times. People also wrote letters and complaints stating that “they were confronted with various difficulties” after the conversion of housing units into “Enclosed Restricted Areas.” The worst affected sectors are G-6, E-7, F-7, F-8 and F-10.

Fouzia Saeed, who lives in sector F-7/4, told The Express Tribune that the residents of her street had written a letter to the CDA chairperson mentioning the security risk posed to locals due to the office of a foreign company in their street.

“But so far CDA officials have not responded positively,” she said. Similarly, a high-ranking official living in sector E-7 told The Express Tribune that despite assurances no concrete steps had been taken in this regard so far.

The total area of ‘old’ Diplomatic Enclave, according to CDA record, is 795.28 acres. A break-up of this reveals that 56 plots had been allotted to embassies out of which 35 are lying vacant.

Deputy Director General Planning CDA Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu said the dispute between the locals of Malpur and CDA had not been addressed, hence the establishment of a new diplomatic enclave would take time.

Earlier, CDA was working on development of 788.40 acres of land for the extension of Diplomatic Enclave in Malpur village. After great difficulties, the city authority managed to get 35 acres of land that was located in the extended part of the Diplomatic Enclave vacated. This was then allotted to the embassy of the People’s Republic of China for the construction of Visa Seekers Service Centre.

Cash compensation was paid to 20 families from the old Malpur village. However, the locals were not ready to hand over the possession of the land to the authority. This stalemate between the locals and the CDA, along with paucity of funds had led to the stalling of the new diplomatic enclave project.

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior in the near past has expressed serious concerns over placing huge blocks around the embassies and missions in the different residential sectors. The body had already directed the department concerned to make efforts for shifting the foreign missions from the residential areas.

Moreover, the Uzbek embassy reportedly approached CDA recently and sought permission for a bomb-proof structure in front of the embassy located in sector F/8.

Foreign missions in residential areas

CDA’s record reveals that a total of 91 embassies and foreign mission offices are operating in the residential areas of the capital. Among them, 48 are offices of the foreign missions and United Nations, while 43 are embassies. These include embassies for Algeria, Norway, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Hungary, Denmark, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Philippines, Belgium, Malaysia, Sudan, Oman, Libya, Brazil, Romania, Afghanistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, South Korea, Portugal and Portugal (Chancery), British Council, Greece and their visa office, Republic of Northern Cyprus, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Finland and Latvia.

Following the bombings on World Food Program office and Danish embassy, at least 11 embassies contacted CDA with their site plans.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.

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