City mulls land for 5-star Clifton hotel

[LRE]

City mulls land for 5-star Clifton hotel

By Jamil Khan

KARACHI: The City Council of Karachi will meet today (Thursday) to discuss the commercialization of 2.5 acres at the beach for a 5-star hotel, whether to allow Rs 50,000 in weekly allowances for Abbasi Shaheed Hospital’s laboratory and a quarterly report submitted by the transport and mass transit committee.

Sources in the Master Plan Group of Offices told Daily Times that according to drawing No. PB-5 finalized on Nov 2, 1985, the portion of land measuring 2.5 acre in Block 2, Scheme 5 Clifton was reserved for a marine promenade (welfare purposes) near the Beach Park.

“Due to the massive development works and huge number of national and international exhibitions held in the city, Karachi has become prominent in the world. The number of foreign delegates in the city is increasing daily and the shortage of proper accommodation for the foreigners have been noticeable on a large scale. The city government had decided to change the status of this land from a marine promenade to commercial through a joint investment,” sources said.

After the construction of the hotel, the city government will earn significant revenue annually and the problem of accommodation for foreign delegations will be overcome, the official said.

The city government’s adopted Master Plan 2020 (Karachi Strategic Master Plan 2020) had prohibited any development work for Water Front Development (sub-section 4 of 4.8) within the limits of the 150 meter High Water Mark. But the City Council member committee for the Master Plan Group of Offices reviewed the layout plan of Clifton and did not find any high water mark to stop this project from going forward.

“According to the committee members there is no sign of a High Water Mark to prohibit development work up to 150 meters and it is also difficult to mark such a sign due to the reclamation of land,” said the chairman of the committee, Syed Absarul Hasan.

In addition to the Clifton hotel, the city council will discuss a quarterly report submitted by the chairman of the Transport and Mass Transit Committee, Nadeem Hidayat Hashmi, that has suggestions for improvements to the transport system.

The suggestions include a limited number of buses/coaches to use alternate bus-stops which will decrease the burden on every stop especially during peak hours. “The city government could introduce particular cards for students and special persons with a subsidy on the fares. The card should be issued for Rs 200 annually and will help the city government earn a huge amount and this revenue could be used to give transporters a subsidy,” the committee suggested. The report also suggests increasing the number of cats eyes and sign-boards on all major roads and planning for more parking plazas on busy thoroughfares.

The city council agenda will also include a proposal to issue Rs 50,000 per week as allowances for the laboratories working in the jurisdiction of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. “The laboratory of the trauma center in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital is working round the clock. Due to the heavy load of work, the problems of maintenance etc have been increasing and to fix them, the management needs a huge daily amount. The separate allowances for the laboratories will be spent on the authority of the medical superintendent of ASH,” the official said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg12_1