by Manzurul Haq in Dawn, November 16th, 2020
LAHORE: Since the latest rebirth of the Ravi Riverfront Development Scheme, the PTI government has been touting it as a harbinger of a bright future of the country, especially for Lahore.
A new company, the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda), has been formed to deal with the project, signifying a new beginning. It has been hailed as a new dawn. A government spokesperson has likened the project to creating an alternative to Dubai, Istanbul and London for the benefit of Pakistani tourists. This time around, we are told, a new approach will be taken to infuse a new life into this decades-old project.
The government will involve itself only with infrastructural development while the private sector would drive this Rs5tr behemoth.
The latest developments in this scheme; however, are a source of serious concerns. A notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisitions Act was issued by the Punjab government on Oct 6, signalling its intention to forcibly acquire thousands of acres of private land.
This is, apparently, only the first phase and more land would be acquired in the due course, various estimates put the figure between 70,000 and 102,000 acres. The notification has been followed quickly by setting up of the district price assessment committees (DPACs) and their announcement, practically overnight, of woefully low acquisition prices for these thousands of acres in Lahore, much of it being more than 10km from the Ravi itself.
But why is the government acquiring this land despite repeated statements that it has no money and that the private sector will lead the development of the scheme? A clue is given in the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by Ruda for guidance of potential investors. The first point states, “Land acquisition payment to Ruda, by the Developer/Investor at a minimum of 2 times of the land acquisition cost”. So, the land acquired by the government will be marked up 100pc and then ‘sold’ to the developers who will then do whatever developers do. This ‘profit’ generated by Ruda will presumably be used for infrastructural development. Seems straightforward enough, right? There is, however, one catch – the land will be forcibly acquired from the landowners at a fraction of its market value. The acquisition prices made public by the government show ‘assessed’ prices at a fraction (often only a tenth) of actual market values.
The helpless citizens owning this land (generally their only possession) will be deprived of their holdings for a mere pittance and left to fend for themselves. The developers/investors, with ostensibly questionable sources of money, will be encouraged and incentivised to whiten this ‘investment’ under the prevailing (and no doubt a future) ‘amnesty scheme’ to ‘buy’ this land at a fraction of market value, a neat act of alchemy to transfer most of the landowners’ equity to the coffers of the rich. The latter would have made billions already without the first shovel hitting the ground.
All is process means taking thousands of the poor to give to a few of the rich; reversing the idea of helping the poor by taking from the rich. Now it should become obvious why there is such a hurry to issue the Section 4 notification, followed by such alacrity in setting up the price committees and publishing the meagre, laughably low acquisition prices for dozens of villages.
There is a tremendous urgency to enter the next phase and acquire the land as quickly as possible, the first phase in almost comical guise of medical city etc to start immediately. Acquiring land far away from the project site in the already densely populated areas would also be instantly much more profitable for selected commercial developers.
In this whole process, however, there is an opportunity for the government to establish principles, which many of its leaders proclaim loudly, seem to have been overlooked. The details of the project, including its operational model, have to be submitted for public scrutiny as it has a potential to affect thousands of lives. A neutral body should be set up to which comments and objections could be submitted. No compulsory acquisition of land should be carried out. The government should provide infrastructural development and clear policy guidelines, for example, on zoning. Commercial developers should be given incentives such as tax exemptions on profits but they should not be handed over poor citizens’ lands on a platter for a pittance.
Any developer should be able to acquire land on commercial terms and turn it into a profitable project. Isn’t this what competent business people should do? Any compulsory acquisition of land for clearly demonstrated infrastructural purposes should be done at the market value. A suitable premium for forcible displacement should be paid to the affectees.
Let the Ravi riverfront project be a shining example. The foundations of ‘Naya Pakistan’ should not be laid on the blood, sweat and tears of its citizens who are deprived needlessly of their only possession–their land. There should be no need for a modern pharaoh to crush thousands of minions under a pyramid in pursuit of glory.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1590596/ravi-riverfront-project-robin-hood-in-reverse
