KMC to legalise china-cutting for quick buck

Some officials say status of amenity plots cannot be changed; others say there are ways around it

KARACHI:

A few days ago, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator, Sajjad Hussain Abbasi, made a startling announcement: the KMC was devising a way to regulate 'china-cutting'. The administrator did add, however, that the scheme will not include amenity plots.

The reason for the statement is clear: the severely cash-starved KMC is desperately trying to make an extra buck or two. What is baffling are the complex technical legalities involved in the process — something that the KMC's own departments are not on the same page about.



'China-cutting' is a relatively new phrase, which was coined in Karachi and became part of its linguistics around a decade ago. It refers to the illegal carving of amenity plots, community centres, government plots, parks or even cemeteries into smaller plots. These plots are then sold to unsuspecting buyers. The term has become a source of fear and anguish of late as several officials of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) as well as other civic bodies have been arrested over charges of 'china-cutting'.

In the press conference on November 9, Abbasi had reasoned that the KMC was thinking of regularising such constructions in order to generate some revenue. "This will provide billions of rupees in revenue to the KMC," he said, adding that the move will also be a humanitarian one, "as it did not seem nice to demolish people's houses."

A whole city's worth

The Karachi Development Authority's (KDA) land director, Nasir Abbas, told The Express Tribune that there are over 30,000 china-cutting plots in Karachi. For Abbas, any piece of land, less than 120 yards in size and that is not part of the master plan, is classified as 'china-cutting'.



KMC's Master Plan office director Hafiz Javed negated Abbas' definition. For Javed, any plot carving other than that done by a government agency is 'china-cutting', be it 120 yards or 1,000 yards. The process of regularising constructions over such plots, which have been sold several times over, will be quite cumbersome, said Abbas. "The occupant will not be ready to pay for land he has already purchased," he said, adding that since the prices of houses constructed on 'china-cutting' were far lesser than the construction on KDA's legally-leased plots, the KMC could impose heavy penalties. "If you buy a Rs5 item for Rs3, you must have an idea that something is wrong with it," he reasoned. The KMC, according to Nasir, will charge some amount per square yard considering the location of the plot and its value. "It will be a strenuous task but we will have to carry it out," he said.

Not so fast

The KDA director for land and enforcement, Jameel Ahmed Baloch, says that according to the law, the status of amenity plots can never be changed. Then again, there are hardly any 'china-cutting' plots other than those on amenity land, he pointed out. For Baloch, KMC's most-recent scheme is nothing but a tactic to regularise 'china-cutting' on amenity plots.

"Almost all the 'china-cutting' plots have been illegally leased. KDA's own employees are involved in this practice, some of whom are now facing corruption charges," he admitted.

Precedent is present

Baloch believes, however, that it can be done. He recalled how, in 2001, the lease of certain plots from 1985 to 1999 were cancelled and then through another ordinance in 2002, the owners of such plots were asked to pay the amount in difference. "The same technique could be applied in this case," he said. "An ordinance can cancel the leases of all such plots and, after approval of regularisation, new leases can be issued with a penalty surcharge."



Legally sound?

Sindh High Court Advocate Malik Asif certainly thinks so. Though he admits that the status of amenity plots cannot be changed, they have now become a special subject and a highly controversial one at that. One way out of the mess would be to start an amnesty scheme, under which if one's right has been claimed over something illegal and reversing it would have no benefit, it could be legalised. The owners of such plots would, however, have to bear the penalty in these cases.

"A petition can be filed in the high court against the status of amenity plots, which have become a special case now, due to which the status of the said amenity plots could be changed," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2015.