KARACHI: The Manora Cantonment Board (MCB) is soon going to be handed over to a Dubai-based firm for development, Daily Times has learnt.

The board’s spokesman has told Daily Times that Pakistan’s Ministry for Ports and Shipping signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2006 with Dubai World, M/s Limitless and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) for the redevelopment of Manora Island. “Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz brought the companies in as part of the plan to attract direct foreign investment for beach front projects at Sea View and Gwadar,” he said.

The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and all military establishments will vacate the island and hand it over to the companies.

The development will comprise high-rise hotels and apartment buildings in addition to beach huts for foreigners, the spokesman said, adding that according to the design, the island would be turned into a tourist resort with a water sports arena on the shore.

M/S Limitless is the same company behind The Palm Jumeirah and Jumeirah Islands and is known for its master planned communities.

Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai signed the MoU with the Government of Pakistan, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Ports and Shipping. “The Manora Island project was named Sugar Land City with an initial investment of $20 billion,” he said. “It is very disappointing that the project was unnecessarily halted due to resistance from the fishermen community. A total investment of forty billion US dollars will be made soon by addressing all the apprehensions of those opposing the project,” said the spokesman. He added that investors had already suffered as they spent millions of dollars on the design. “It would have been easier for people associated with the shipping business and also the picnickers if the Manora-Clifton bridge was made with seven billion rupees.”

Manora is a small 2.5-square-kilometre island located just south of the port of Karachi. It is connected to the mainland by a 12-kilometer long causeway called Sandspit and a 13.4 km one from Mauripur Town. Manora and neighboring islands form a protective barrier between the Karachi harbor to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south. The western bay of the harbor contains endangered mangrove forests which border Sandspit and Manora island. To the east are the Karachi Bay and the beach towns of Keamari and Clifton. According to the 1998 census, Manora’s population was 9,987 and has since dropped by half.

Three types of civilians are residents of the Manora Cantonment Board: leaseholders, employees of federal departments including KPT and fishermen. “Most of the KPT employees left Manora after receiving a golden handshake from the trust and have now moved to other parts of the city, leading to a drop in the population,” explained the board’s spokesman. The fishing community has said that it comes under the City District Government Karachi (CDGK). “The fishermen were at a distance from the board and were located in Salehabad that comes under the CDGK administration,” the spokesman said. “The CDGK was responsible for providing them basic civic facilities and not us.”

The former chief executive officer of the Manora Cantonment Board, S.M Shaukat Najmi, retired in February. Irfan Asghar, the CEO of the Korangi Cantonment Board (KCB), has been given the additional charge of the Manora Cantonment Board.


Daily Times