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DECEMBER
2007
ISSUES:
Housing
imperatives for Karachi
By
Arif Hasan
HOUSING
is without doubt the most important issue facing the vast majority of
people living in Karachi. The failure to resolve it is creating stress,
uncertainty and homelessness for the poorer and lower-middle-class
sections of society and increasing the rich-poor divide.
Since independence, a large housing demand-supply gap has always existed
in Karachi. Previously this gap was accommodated in katchi abadis.
However, this is becoming difficult as land that could previously be
used for katchi abadis is now required for meeting the demands of global
capital and the emerging middle class. Due to this, prices of land in
katchi abadis have become unaffordable, even for the better-off among
the poor. As a result, entire families have now started living on the
streets and in public spaces.Surveys suggest that the majority of these
are those who have been evicted from their previous homes due to rising
rent and land use changes or due to the break-up of extended families,
often because of disputes related to ownership or to a lack of space.
Once, Karachi housing-related professionals were very proud that unlike
other mega cities of South Asia, people did not sleep in the streets in
their city. This is no longer the case.
The demand for strategically located land by commercial interests, often
promoted by profit-seeking mega projects, is also evicting people from
existing katchi abadis. Since 1997, more than 50,000 Karachi households
have had their homes bulldozed. More than half these evictions have
taken place in the last four years. In addition, since then 1,777 huts
have been burnt, rendering more than 12,000 homeless. Nineteen minor
children, four young girls and six adults were burnt alive in these
incidents. Plazas have been constructed on some of these locations.
About 50 per cent of the evictees have been offered a plot of land in a
relocation site. Urban Resource Centre surveys of the relocation sites,
which are 20 to 25 kilometres away from the city centre, show that
relocation has impoverished the affectees. This is because their travel
costs have increased by more than 100 per cent, their women can no
longer work, their children’s education has been disrupted, utilities
are not available unlike previously, and the long hours of travelling to
and from work increase stress and disrupts family and social life.
News items indicate that the state intends to demolish katchi abadis in
key locations and build eight-storey flats and commercial centres in
their place. The affected katchi abadi residents are to be allotted an
apartment in these new developments. This proposal is an open invitation
to corruption and will not serve the interests of the residents. It has
failed in the case of the Lines Area Project in Karachi and has never
been successful in other countries except where there are strong
governments.
Fish vendors, hawkers, motor mechanics and small commercial enterprises
cannot operate from high-rise apartments. Therefore, the upgradation of
katchi abadis is the only viable solution. However, under the present
rules only abadis that were formed before March 23, 1985 are eligible
for regularisation. This means that about half of the katchi abadi
population is vulnerable to eviction. In the interests of justice,
equity and pragmatism, it is necessary to extend this cut-off date to
June 30, 2007. The Punjab government has wisely extended it to December
31, 2006. The major objection of the anti-katchi abadi-regularisation
lobby is that they are ‘eyesores’. However, experience from other
Third World countries shows that they can be made extremely attractive
with very little investment. This writer has offered to be an honorary
advisor for a pilot project of this sort for two katchi abadis.
Surveys for the Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020, a comparison of
the 1981 and 1998 census and other official documents show that housing
conditions in Karachi have deteriorated. For example, in 1978 the katchi
abadi population was 55 per cent of the total population of Karachi. In
1980 it was 43 per cent. This decline was due to the social housing
policies of the Bhutto government in the ’70s.
In 1998 the katchi abadi population was 50 per cent of the Karachi
population (700,152 households) and in 2006 it was 61 per cent
(1,200,000 households). ADB figures indicate that 50.5 per cent of
Karachi residents live below the poverty line. For katchi abadis this
figure is 89 per cent of which 54 per cent are chronic poor. This is a
major increase from previous surveys.
In addition, in the 1980 housing census houses with separate latrines
were 74 per cent, separate kitchens 65 per cent and separate bathrooms
69 per cent. In the 1998 census, these figures have fallen to 47, 48 and
34 per cent respectively.
The Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020 survey shows that 34.4 per
cent of households earn less than Rs5,000 and 41.4 per cent earn between
Rs5,000 and Rs10,000 per month. It is estimated that these households
spend 75 per cent of their earnings on food items and 18 per cent on
utility bills. This means that the current housing market cannot
possibly be accessed by over 75 per cent of Karachi households.
Given the above conditions, a massive social housing programme is
required for Karachi. An essential ingredient of this plan has to be
strategically located land on or near the main corridors of movement or
near major work centres. Such land is available but hoarded for
speculation. To bring it into the land market, a heavy non-utilisation
fee of at least 10 per cent per year of its value is required. This will
also make land prices more realistic.
In addition to the extension of the cut-off date, the imposition of the
non-utilisation fee and the adoption of upgrading of katchi abadis
rather than redevelopment, a few more ingredients for social housing are
required. One, between now and such a time as we can close the
demand-supply gap, informal settlements will be required. Plans should
be developed for the creation of settlements on the Khuda Ki Basti model
for a five-year period.
Given the changing sociology of Karachi, the major demand in the next
decade is going to be for low- and lower-middle-income built units
rather than plots. These can be provided on the basis of recovery of
their costs at Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 down payment and a monthly payment
of Rs1,500 to Rs3,000 for over a 15-year period. If the price exceeds
this, it should be subsidised from other sources.
However, the major problem for making such housing initiatives
successful is related to accurate targeting and making speculation
difficult. Models for both of these can be developed with the help of
katchi abadi CBOs. Initial research also shows that with changes in
bylaws and through innovative layouts, development costs can be halved
of what they are today. However, none of this is possible without
political will and the creation of effective institutions.
(By
Arif Hasan, Daily Dawn, 11/12/2007)
Housing
deficit
Pakistan's
housing deficit, currently 6.19 million, is increasing annually by
270,000 housing units, according to official sources, while private
developers maintain that the country's housing deficit is seven million
units and it is increasing by 350,000 housing units per year.
Pakistan
requires about 0.5 million new houses every year to cater to the needs
of its citizens, but only 150,000 houses are constructed in the country
during a year's time, with the exception of last year when 350,000
housing units were established with an investment of Rs 150 billion plus
the cost of land for their construction. If the pace of galloping
deficit is not contained, knowledgeable circles maintain, then the
shortage will rise to a million houses in the not too distant future,
badly affecting the life of the common citizens, both socially and
economically. In 1998, the officials state, the housing backlog stood at
4.30 million units. Since then, it has increased to 6.19 million.
Factors like high population growth rate, inadequate attention towards
construction of new houses, migration from rural to urban areas and
break up of the traditional joint family system have largely contributed
to the acute shortage of houses in the country.
The
ever-widening housing deficit has resulted in mushroom growth of
squatter colonies and slum localities, particularly in main urban
centres and metropolitan towns where many families are constrained to
live in one-room shanty lodges. Generally, slum-dwellers face many
obstacles, which deny them a permanent and decent shelter with a minimum
of basic amenities -- water, sanitation, electricity, gas, drainage,
and, above all, decent health care and educational facilities. As such,
the slum-dwellers are forced to live in sub-human conditions in
overcrowded localities. According to a conservative estimate, more than
20 per cent of Pakistan's urban population lives in slum areas that are
devoid of basic civic amenities. Some past governments tried to bridge
the widening gap between the demand and supply of houses in the country.
For instance, in 1985, the Junejo government announced a policy aimed at
catering to the housing needs of the citizens, particularly the middle-
and lower-income groups. Salient features of Junejo's four-year plan
included: 1) free distribution of 2.2 million seven marla plots among
the homeless in rural areas; 2) free distribution of three marla plots
among the homeless in urban areas; 3) allotment of three marla plots to
the homeless in urban areas at nominal rates; 4) construction of one
million houses for the homeless people in the country, including at
least 20,000 rural and 15,000 urban houses in each province; 5)
development of townships at all district headquarters; 6) allotment of
10,000 small plots, ranging from 90 square yards to 140 square yards, to
the low-paid government employees in Islamabad; and 7) development and
regularisation of pre-March 23, 1985, katchi abadis and handing over
proprietary rights to their legitimate owners.
After
the dismissal of the Junejo government, the establishment and the
bureaucracy circumvented the housing policy, so as to accommodate the
elite at the cost of middle and lower-middle classes of the society. As
a result, the housing problem has continued to grow, both in size and
dimension, over the years. Also, against a shortfall of 2.8 million
houses in the mid-1980s, the country now faces a deficit of more than
6.19 million housing units.
Globally,
the construction and housing industry accounts for 10-12 per cent of the
gross domestic product (GDP) and seven per cent of employment.
Recognising the gravity of housing situation, and the potential of
housing and construction industry as productive sectors of economy, the
outgoing government accorded priority to this sector -- albeit for a
short period. Indeed, the housing industry has a great potential as one
of the main drivers of economic growth. It can generate employment
opportunities as well as engage at least 36 other supporting industries,
thus creating demand for growth of economy on the one hand and
alleviating poverty on the other hand. The outgoing government also
formulated a national policy for accelerating housing activity, aimed at
both employment generation and economic development. The policy was
designed to facilitate provision of housing inputs like land, finance
and building materials. On June 8, 2005, the concerned authorities
informed the National Security Council that the housing sector envisages
construction of over three million low-cost houses to partially meet the
shortfall at an estimated investment of Rs 900 billion over the next
five years. To give a boost to the housing sector, the government
enhanced the house financing by banks to 10 per cent from the previous
five per cent of net advances, while maximum loan limit was also
increased to Rs 10 million from the previous Rs 5 million, debt-equity
ratio from 70:30 to 80:20, and loan tenure from 15 years to 20 years.
Taking cognizance of the galloping housing deficit, the outgoing
government constituted an Advisory Board on Housing and Infrastructure.
Chairing the board's meeting in Islamabad on November 23, 2007, which
was attended by high officials and private construction companies, Board
of Investment Secretary Mushtaq Malik said the aim was to address the
issues faced by the private sector and forward recommendations to the
concerned authorities. The outgoing government was contemplating to
introduce a new enactment with a view to making the housing sector more
vibrant, minimising shortfall of housing units, eliminating land mafia
and streamlining the business of private housing societies. The move
aimed at checking the manipulations of the land mafia and the
unscrupulous elements amongst the property dealers by requiring the plot
owners to build houses within the stipulated period. In case of failure,
their plots could be cancelled or heavy fines could be imposed on them.
The
proposed enactment also contemplated to make attorney letters, which
owners of non-transferable plots issue to the buyers, unacceptable to
the authorities, so as to discourage the plots business and bound the
allottees to build houses. The proposed law also aimed at protecting the
people from cheating by the land mafia by binding the housing societies,
while publicising their projects, to declare the land they own, along
with lay out plan of their housing schemes, and also surrender plots to
the concerned development agencies for building roads, mosques,
playgrounds, community centres, etc. Though the fate of that law is not
yet known, however, its provisions pertaining to binding the housing
societies to declare the land that they own, along with the lay out plan
of their housing schemes and surrendering of plots to the development
agencies for utilities, is now being implemented. But some unregistered
developers still continue to cheat simple folks, who fail to observe
legal requirements while booking properties. In view of the magnitude of
the housing problem, it was encouraging that the government was seized
with the problem and appears to be tackling it. However, the housing
deficit is mammoth and it continues to swell. Therefore, it needs to be
tackled assigning it the priority that it deserves with a view to
meeting the housing needs of the citizens, in particular the vulnerable
sections of the society.
(By
Alauddin Masood, The News, 09/12/2007)
‘Influx
of global capital is to benefit the rich’
The inflow of global capital into Karachi has ensured exploitation in
the name of development and the recent spate in the number of luxury
housing projects in the city is purely for the benefit of the rich at
the cost of the poor. This was the general consensus of speakers at the
inaugural session of the Eighth Akhtar Hameed Khan Development Forum
held at the National Institute of Management (formerly Nipa) here on
Saturday. Though economist Shahid Kardar was to deliver the keynote
address on the topic of ‘Global Capital and Land’, he was unable to
attend and instead Roland D’Souza, Naseer Memon and Zulfiqar Halepoto
spoke.
“Why does global capital want to invest in Pakistan?” asked Mr D’Souza,
who works with a local NGO, and said weak regulation in Pakistan was the
reason. “Why don’t they invest in America or Japan?” he said,
adding that the world as a whole was consuming far more than what it was
producing, terming this overreach.
Naseer Memon, who is also associated with an NGO working for sustainable
development, said the recent “deluge of dollars into Pakistan was a
signal to many that something sinister was afoot in the name of
development”.
Describing the waterfront projects in Karachi as ‘destruction, not
development’, he said that a big part of global capital went into real
estate. Human rights and ecology issues were being overlooked in the
name of development, he said, adding that an impending ecological
disaster was on the cards.
“Who is global capital for? A former minister has said that after the
sea-front project is complete, the city will look like Dubai. So Dubai
is our development model. This shows that global capital is serving the
needs of the rich,” he said.
“If the land mafia are given the chance, they would even occupy the
moon and Mercury,” he commented acerbically, adding that one of the
reasons for the current flour crisis might be that the land meant for
agriculture and the production of food crops was being gobbled up by “developers”.
He rejected the assumption that FDI – foreign direct investment –was
beneficial at all and instead termed it exploitative. In 2001, $12.8
million were invested in the construction sector while in 2006 that
figure jumped to $937 million.Mr Halepoto claimed that global capital
enabled soft aggression, which allowed hegemony without the need to
resort to violence or warfare. He regretted that all the manifestoes
released recently by political parties were almost the same when it came
to the issue of favouring the free market economy. Most of them ignored
the issue of land reforms, and hence for voters, there was not much
choice.
(Daily
Dawn, 16/12/2007)
780
people killed, 30,000 injured in road accidents
Approximately
780 people died and over 30,000 were injured in road-traffic accidents (RTAs)
in Karachi between September 2006 and August 2007. Around 65 percent of
those injured were motorcyclists, while 20 percent of all RTA injuries
involved pedestrians, according to the shocking figures disclosed by the
results of a recent survey made as part of the Road-Traffic Injury
Research Project (RTIRP).
The project is a joint venture by the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical
Centre, the NED University of Engineering & Technology, and the Aga
Khan University Hospital (AKUH). Five major hospitals had been selected
for data-collection. These included the Aga Khan Hospital, JPMC, Liaquat
National Hospital (LNH), the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) and the Abbasi
Shaheed Hospital (ASH).
Results of the project were discussed Saturday by the Indus Motor
Company (IMC) during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club.
Speakers stressed on the need for safety helmets, as well as
improvements in pedestrian facilities and road engineering.
According to the report, most RTAs occur on Sunday while noon is the
time when the probability of accidents is the highest. Moreover,
accidents occurring round 08:00 p.m. are found to be fatal. The study
also revealed that 90 percent of all RTAs occur in the middle of the two
intersections. This proves a lack of awareness among predestrians about
the use of roads. It was also found that most accidents are the driver’s
fault, while 14 percent of all RTAs in Karachi are the result of faults
in the road. The latter number should, according to international safety
standards, be under three percent.
The project further revealed that most people injured in RTAs in the
city were transported to hospitals via private vehicles. This showed
that while a large number of ambulances operate in Karachi, their
network is not organized enough to be availed by the public.
“The
highest road user group involved in road accidents was that of
motorcycle riders and pedestrians, thus there is an urgent need to take
measures to educate them and protect this particular user group. Our
data shows that of the motorcycle riders who had expired, nearly 86
percent had serious head injuries and were without helmets, thus there
is an urgent need to enforce helmet usage,” JPMC director, Dr Rasheed
Jooma, said, adding however, that he admired the ongoing helmet drive of
the traffic police. “Similarly if the injured is reported to be a
driver in that case we found that 96 percent of them were not wearing
(safety) seat belts,” Dr Joma said.
“In areas with high traffic density, pedestrians and riders are
vulnerable. Pedestrian facilities are therefore extremely necessary,”
the JPMC director said. “With such a large segment of the victims
being young people, we appreciate IMC’s initiative in starting a
School Road Safety Programme, which has already reached out to 20,000
students in over 100 schools.”
Over 33,000 RTAs were recorded in Karachi during the RTIRP. The research
has identified 21 major black spots (high accident areas) in the city.
Korangi Road, Mauripur Road, Hub River Road, National Highway, Landhi
and Super Highway top this list. Around 59 percent of RTAs in these
areas involve motor bikes, 8 percent involve buses or mini buses, and 11
percent involve cars. Among the road user group, the highest number of
cases involved motorcycle riders (14,519 cases), followed by pedestrians
(6,644 cases), with the third highest being pillion riders (6,180).
Thirteen percent of RTA victims were younger than 15, nearly 20 percent
were between 16-20 years old, and 22 percent were between the ages of 21
and 25. These statistics show that more than half of all road accident
victims are less than 25 years old.
IMC CEO Parvez Ghias said that the RTIRP was not about individual or
organizational targets, but what about what could be done collectively
to improve road safety – first in Karachi and then throughout the
country. He further said that IMC was working on a trauma health network
in the city.
Former IG Sindh, Asad Jahangir, said that road engineering needs to be
improved since there are many places where speed limits are not defined.
At the end of the conference several proposals for improving the
situation were discussed. The main proposals include improvement in road
engineering, betterment in pedestrian facilities, training drivers
(especially people who drive HTVs), identifying bus stops, allocating
proper places for hydrants, reducing the movement of dripping water
tankers, and enforcing speed limits.
Dr Jooma also stressed on the need for improving the traffic police
force, because the personnel are currently “underpaid, under-trained
and overused.”
(The
News, 16/12/2007)
Beach-front
project
No
environmental clearance yet
A
Gulf-based firm is flouting the country’s laws as it has floated a
project for the development of a commercial district on reclaimed land
in the DHA’s Phase-VIII without acquiring the mandatory environmental
clearances from the government, it has been learnt.
According to sources associated with the project, the developers have
reclaimed about 108 acres of land along the Arabian Sea for
establishing, among other facilities, residential and commercial
apartments in phases.
“We have a master plan approved by the DHA for the project, which is
the first of its kind in the city providing breathtaking sea views from
every turn. All legalities, including environmental assessments, have
been met and the project has been opened to the public today (Dec 9) for
the reservation of residential apartments numbering over 4,000”, a
source said in reply to queries.
However, senior government officials in the federal and provincial
governments maintained that neither the firm in question nor the DHA had
approached them so far or applied for the issuance of any NOCs in regard
to the project.
Section 12 of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 and the
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pepa) review of the IEE/EIA
Regulations 2000 requires that every new development project in Pakistan
has to be preceded by an initial environmental examination (IEE) or
environmental impact assessment (EIA) depending on the size and severity
of impact anticipated at the commissioning of the project.
The IEE/EIA mandates the proponent to comply with the government
regulations and minimise the negative impact on the environment as far
as possible.
After
receiving detailed reports prepared from the scientific,
micro-environmental, macro-environmental, social and economic points of
view, the environmental protection agency concerned holds public
hearings and frames a set of environmental management plans and
guidelines on mitigation measures for the proponent, if the government
agency clears the project submitted to it.
‘Proceedings not
necessary’
When contacted, Brig (retd) Javed Ashraf, the DHA’s Director Special
Projects, said that the Defence Housing Authority had already got an
environmental assessment done through reputed consultants in the case of
the waterfront under its jurisdiction, and as such, he did not deem EIA
proceedings necessary for the project in question featuring high and
mid-rise towers for residential and commercial use.
DHA spokesperson Col (retd) Rafat Naqvi said that the project is being
carried out on land given by the DHA and it was understood that it would
remain environmentally viable at every stage in the future.
“We have also taken into confidence the stakeholders and acquired
clearances for the beach-front activities with the objective that these
will, in return, not only bring in some money needed for the authority’s
existing infrastructure but would also add value to area”, he said.
However, Pepa’s Director Monitoring Zia-ul-Islam told this reporter
that the project in question very much required scrutiny by the
government agency before its launching.
‘Proceedings required’
“The EIA proceedings are required to be conducted by the environmental
agencies of the government only and such power has not been delegated to
any other organisation or land controlling authority in the country”,
he said.
The Director-General of the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (Sepa),
Abdul Malik Ghauri, said that the developers of the beach-front project,
who, surely, must be aware of international standards and best
environmental practices, should have met the EIA formality prior to
inviting the public’s participation in the project.
He said that no EIA report has so far been received by Sepa from the
proponents of the project, which was a violation of environmental laws.
An environmental expert and former deputy director of Sepa, Shahid Lutfi,
said that there were a lot of things which needed to be considered
before launching of any development project.
“At a time when the sea is already under threat of environmental
degradation, conservationists have expressed concern over the state of
the waste disposal system, energy base, drinking water supply and
treatment and recycling of water and the overall physical, social and
biological environment of projects, particularly when these are in the
coastal areas or along the sea-front of cities”, he noted.
He was of the view that the project in question should have gone through
the regulatory process and the EIA should have been conducted as per the
laws of the country, which, in return, would help generate confidence in
the public investors and other stakeholders.
“The project has been planned at a spectacular location and as such,
its executers should make sure that the sea-front or sea water is not
polluted at any stage”, the environmentalist pointed out.
(By
Mukhtar Alam, Daily Dawn, 10/12/2007)
Empress
Market
Shopkeepers
asked to shift to temporary location by Dec 14
At
least 629 shopkeepers of the Empress Market, Saddar, have been asked to
voluntarily shift their shops to an alternative location provided to
them by the city government by December 14, or risk getting vacated by
the deadline set by the authorities concerned.
These shops are located at Shahabudin Market adjacent to the Empress
Market, where vegetables, meat, birds and other miscellaneous items are
being sold. The sources said that these shopkeepers would be provided
alternative temporary shops free of cost located at Preedy Street near
Saddar Dawakhana until a new market was constructed in the vicinity and
soon the foundation stone laying ceremony of a new market would be
performed by City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, where these shopkeepers
would be given permanent shops.
According to sources, in the first phase, 629 vegetable and meat
shopkeepers would be shifted to the temporary location by December 15
and in thesecond phase the other 839 shopkeepers of the Empress Market
would be shifted to the new market in a period of ten months.
The court had also ordered on November 29 that the shops be shifted to
the alternative location by the stipulated time, the sources said. The
new commercial plaza would have all modern facilities including a car
parking lot for 2,000 vehicles with eight entrance gates of 20 feet
each, besides having a plant for the disposal of garbage.
The source said that with the construction of the new market, and after
the shifting of the 1,720 shops of the Empress Market there, the
historical building would be preserved as heritage site by the city
government.
Currently, the city government collects a sum of 12 million yearly from
1,720 shops of the Empress Market, which is located on two acres of
land. According to the sources, the shifting could have been carried out
earlier but the matter was taken to the court and litigation caused
delay in process.
At present, encroachers have occupied pavements around the Empress
Market, causing extreme hardships for pedestrians besides creating
obstruction for traffic movement. The encroachers run their business
allegedly with the collusion of police and fruit vendors have completely
occupied the open space just opposite the Rainbow Center. Similarly
private vehicles are parked all along the roads around the Empress
Market which also causes a traffic mess.
(By
Fasahat Mohiuddin, The News, 03/12/2007)
Status
quo granted to residents of two Goths
A
division bench of the Sindh High Court on Wednesday restricted the City
District Government Karachi (CDGK) from demolishing the houses of the
residents of Nagar Goth and Angara Goth, situated in Liaquatabad Town by
granting status-quo to the petitioners. The petitioner Ghulam Mustafa
and 50 others through their counsel Shaukat Ali Sheikh submitted that
their houses have been marked with particular signs suggesting that they
would be demolished. They submitted that their houses were leased and
the authorities concerned had extended no notice regarding demolishing
them. Making respondents CDGK, Director Removal of Encroachments and
Government of Sindh, they prayed the court to stop the authorities
concerned from demolishing their houses and if it would be the only
option the price of their houses as according to the market value should
be given to them.
The bench comprising Justice Yasmin Abbasey and Mehmood Alam Rizvi
issued notices to the CDGK, Director Removal of Encroachments and
Government of Sindh granting status-quo to the petitioners and adjourned
the matter till Jan 29, 2007.
(The
News, 13/12/2007)
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