If you recall almost a year back in April, I made a post titled Saahil Bachao…SAVE Karachi’s Beaches ^[1] talking about the threat of commercialization of Karachi’s beaches, well it seems that the threat has subsided as the company vying for the project then has ‘run away’ leaving the Sindh Planning and Development department dwindling up yet another Request for Proposal (RFP) to be published soon in a number of leading newspapers around the world

The beach front project is supposed to cover some 21,000 acres of land and could have run a hefty tag of over $500 Billion, while the initial costs and reserve guarantee will be $130-$150 Billion at the time of awarding of the contract. Considering that a big Dubai developer has abondeed this project it wont be surprisingly to see this new RFP also fall flat on its face unless the Sindh Government woo in a few investors to bid on this project, seemingly a tough call, but for now we can almost say… The beaches are safe for now….

Unique Pakistan ^[2] … the project was standstill since August 13, 2007 by the authorities concerned, when they got Expression of Interests (EoIs) from investors and developers of international repute for development of waterfront on the western coastline of Karachi centered around Hawksbay.

At present, around 21,000-acre land has been allocated for the project while 19,000-acre land will be leased to tender winner, initially, they said, adding the department was striving to convince aforementioned department to provide land for the project.

It may be cited that environmentalists have raised several objections to the execution of the project, saying that it might cause great damage to the environment and marine life. They are of the opinion that the project should be started only after carrying out a comprehensive environment survey, which assess the effects of the project on air and marine environment, besides suggesting measures to avoid environmental degradation.

To a question, officials in department said the project would be awarded to the company, which would prove its core business activities, technical and financial capabilities, besides providing assurance that project would not damage the surroundings and marine life.

Credit Mansoor ^[3] & Unique Pakistan ^[4]