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NED continues work in heritage building despite lack of NOCs
KARACHI, Oct 23: While construction work continues at the NED
University's city campus building, which is protected under the Sindh Cultural
Heritage Protection Act, the various stakeholders are issuing conflicting
statements regarding the status of the mandatory official permissions and the
university management is refusing to talk to the press.
Nobody, including
the owner, may undertake any construction in a protected building and the
Heritage Act prescribes long prison terms and heavy fines for violators. Before
such work can be initiated, an NOC must be obtained from the advisory committee
on cultural affairs, headed by the provincial chief secretary. However, the
Sindh Culture Department maintains that the relevant permission has not yet been
issued to NED University. Furthermore, permission to carry out construction work
in any building in the city must also be sought from the Karachi Building
Control Authority (KBCA); while NED sources claimed that they had acquired all
the relevant go-aheads, they were unable to provide proof when the KBCA team
visited the site recently.
Sources confirmed that construction
work is nearing completion in two of the big halls in the building which is NED
University's trademark and whose chimney is considered one of the city's
landmarks. At least two small platforms, acting as a mezzanine floor to increase
seating space, have been added in one of the halls. Reportedly, the construction
was carried out under the supervision of a technically qualified person and the
construction material used matched the original, including lime
mortar.
However, the fundamental question – whether the university has
followed the rules and obtained the necessary permissions – remains
unanswered.
U-turn on press statements A few days ago, an NED staffer
agreed to furnish additional details about the restoration /
construction work being carried out, as well as show documentary evidence of the
required NOCs and other permissions.
On Monday, however, the source
informed that the top NED management and high officials of its Architecture
Department had issued directives forbidding anyone from talking to the press:
staffers were asked "not to talk to the press on this issue for at least a
couple of months or so. Then we will decide to talk or not to talk."
When
this writer pointed out that the university would lose its right to reply if it
refused to put its version on the record before the publication of the relevant
news story, the staffer said that "the university was aware of this and we may
talk to you after a couple of months or so."
Other sources, however,
claimed that the university's U-turn in terms of talking to the press was due to
an ongoing dispute with its neighbour, the D.J. College. The latter has for some
years claimed that it owned the NED University's city campus buildings and since
the university had now obtained its own premises which are spread over hundreds
of acres, these buildings should be returned to the college. However, the
university maintained that it owned the buildings and there was no question of
'returning' them. Sources said that the major reason why the NED University
refused to talk to the press about restoration work was because the building's
ownership was under dispute.
'NOC not yet issued'
When contacted,
the KBCA building controller Agha Maqsood Abbas said that a KCBA team visited
the NED campus about 10 days ago. University representatives told the inspection
team that all the required permissions had been obtained but said were not
available with the NED staff present at that time. Staff-members committed to
submitting these documents to the KBCA the next day but no move has been made
since then.
Mr Abbas said that keeping in mind that the case concerned an
educational institution, the KCBA had not yet directed the university to halt
the work. "We will wait a few more days; if the NOC and permissions have still
not been shown and submitted to the KBCA, the university will be directed to
stop the work," he said.
Meanwhile, the Sindh Culture Secretary, Shams
Jafrani, said that NED University had submitted an application seeking
permission for construction from the advisory committee. The committee had asked
one of its members, senior architect Arif Hasan, to review the
project.
Reportedly, Mr Hasan said in a March 30, 2006, report to the
department that he had been a member of the committee that had scrutinised the
NED restoration project for a federal government organisation in 2003, when the
design and detail of the project had been approved. "Since then, detailed
specifications and design have been developed strictly in keeping with
conservation principles. Therefore, I feel that permission to implement the
project may be granted, especially since a trained conservator will be looking
after the project," said Mr Hasan's report to the department, as quoted by Mr
Jafarani.
Since then, however, the department's file regarding the
project has been silent, said Mr Jafrani. Mr Hasan's report had not been
presented before the advisory committee for the purposes of reaching a decision
"so as far as the Sindh Culture Department is concerned, the NOC has not yet
been issued which makes the ongoing work illegal," said Mr
Jafrani.
However, he said that he would not write to the university about
ceasing work just yet. "We will decide in the next few days what steps are to be
taken on this issue, after discussing the matter with Arif Hasan," he stated. Dawn
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