By Bhagwandas
The Dawn, Sept 28
KARACHI, Sept 27: Because of a paucity of funds, the restoration work of the Wazir Mansion — the birthplace of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah — has been suspended for over 15 months, it has been learnt reliably.
While the government is spending billions of rupees on various projects in the city, the historical structure located in the old city neighbourhood of Kharadar, awaits a mere Rs3 million so that its restoration work, started years ago, could be completed, sources have told Dawn.
According to the sources, the priority the government gives to this historical building related to the Father of the Nation can be gauged from the fact that not a single rupee has been allocated for the project during the past financial year (2008-09), which brought the restoration work to a halt in June 2008.
The federal archaeology department, which manages the Wazir Mansion, protected under the Antiquities Act, is implementing a six-year (2002-2008) evaluation, preservation, rehabilitation, and upgrade project.
The sources said the government realised the importance of the Wazir Mansion and allocated Rs3 million for the restoration project during the current financial year. However, with a quarter of the year already over, the allocated funds had not been released and when they could be released, no one was sure, they said.
It was also uncertain if the site could be reopened to the public by Dec 25, 2009, they added.
The restoration project has hit many snags since it started in 2002. Its cost has been revised and fixed now at Rs25 million, out of which Rs22 million has already been spent.
One of the major setbacks came in mid-2007 during construction work when a portion of the gallery collapsed.
The archaeology department tried to protect its project officials, claiming that the gallery had to be removed although a picture in the project documents showed the same gallery was to be restored and new ones, based on original THE mess inside the Wazir Mansion building has been lying unattended since June 2008, when the renovation work was stopped.—White Star
designs (that was not known) were to be constructed, the sources said. Subsequently, the department demolished the galleries on both floors. Now the railings taken out from the old galleries are to be fixed in the new galleries.
The sources said that another controversy surrounding the project was over purchases. Many types of electrical equipment worth millions of rupees had been procured for the museum several years ago but most of the equipment had remained packed in boxes since then and their warranty had expired in the meantime.
Responding to Dawn queries, Omar Qureshi, the federal archaeology department official who is associated with the restoration project, said that the work on the project was stopped in June 2008 as there was no budget allocation for the year 2008-09.
He said that most of the work on the project had been completed and some work on outer side, some inside tile work, some woodwork in the display area etc had to be completed.
He said that when the Rs3 million allocated in this year’s budget was released, the remaining work would be completed and the museum would be opened to the public on the Quaid’s birth anniversary on Dec 25.
Responding to the queries regarding the controversy over the galleries, he said that a committee, with architect Yasmeen Lari and other experts, had been set up to suggest designs for the galleries. The committee, after getting evidence from the neighbourhood and other stakeholders, decided to fix the same old iron railings in the galleries after removing rust and properly cleaning them up. The only difference that might be left would be of wooden railings in place of the old ones, which were made up of concrete.
He said that although he had not been communicated anything officially, he had heard that the government had cut 20 per cent budget of all projects proposed by the ministry of culture. If that were true, it would be difficult to complete this project of national importance by Dec 25 and it might drag on further, he added. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/karachi-no-funds-to-resume-renovation-of-quaids-birthplace-899
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