19.03.2006
THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF GWADAR DEEP SEA PORT A RECIPE FOR ECONOMIC DISPLACEMENT FOR THE PEOPLE OF GWADAR
By Ahmed Baloch
During my stay in Melbourne Australia, I came across with a news item that Authorities in Melbourne decided to start the dredging of Port Phillip Bay (further expansion of the port) before completing the environmental assessment of it. This action of the Govt. resulted in the wide spread protest by environmentalists, local fishermen and other organizations. Protestors even did not care about their lives and went in front of the dredging ship with their small boat. Environmentalist and fishermen went to seek an injunction from Supreme Court to stop the dredging work, as under the Environmental Effects Act, the project can’t start because the environmental assessments are still under way.
This news item raised a question in my mind whether the environmental assessments of Gwadar deep see port was done before the work started or not? If not who is going to protest against it? Who is going to Supreme Court to stop the work there?
Is there any Environment Effect Act which will provide legal ground through which someone go to the court of law to stop this project?
I am damn sure; no such assessment was done for Gwadar Deep Sea Port. The unfortunate thing is, there is nothing such as Environment Effect Act in Pakistan on the basis on which any legal action can be initiated against this project. Any protest will be illegal and protestors would have to face security agencies that hardly care whether the protest is legitimate or illegitimate.
The second thing that I thought over on the news item of dredging of Port Phillip Bay was why there are so many hue and cries for environmental assessment of the project. Mind you that was on a trail 9 week dredging exercise of Port rather than a full pledge project like Gwadar Deep Sea Port.
Any mega project carried out, whether on land or sea, can have negative ecological system, which is the lifeline for all species on that particular land or sea. If this natural system is disturbed, it can be a disaster for the marine life on which the livelihood of 90% people of Gwadar is dependent. Only an environmentalist or a marine biologist can comment on the natty gritty of this issue. I will talk about some of following environmental effects, which are already visible and are ground realities:
1. some of the species of fish and shrimps which fishermen used to catch have already vanished.
2. On the Eastern Bay (Dimi Zir) where the deep-sea port is planned, a big area of sea along with Koh Bahteel is captured by dumping the dredged sand. Consequently, the thrust or pressure of the sea on the eastern side of the Gwadar city has increased considerably which would result in land erosion along the eastern coastline. In order to stop this erosion, a stone barrier is erected along the eastern coastline. This barrier not only destroyed the beauty of the beach but also left no place for the fishermen to take out their small boats for usual maintenance work.
This maintenance work is absolutely essential for these boats from any wear and tear. Now the fishermen have to anchor their tiny boats on the open sea, which will make them vulnerable to any rough weather. Besides that this beach had been a center of all cultural activities for these fishermen. All these activities came to a sudden end with this ugly barrier on our beautiful beaches.
The above-mentioned concerns seem to be insignificant described in few words but the effects of these will be life threatening for the local fishermen in future. One may counter argue on this point that these fishermen will get alternative source of earning with the construction of the deep sea port.
As the literacy level in this area in general and among fishermen in particular is not very high, it would be difficult for these fishermen to adopt another source of life. They are unskilled labor as far any other profession goes. Generally, services of unskilled labor are required during the construction phase of any project. But, number of local people working on the port site can be counted on fingers. No technical college or center started to uplift the technical know how of these people as promised in the rhetoric of the leaders.
So far I have been talking about the public sector and activities of the Govt. Private sector also play a crucial role in the development process of any area. At Gwadar, private sector also took part in the systematic economic destruction of the local fishermen. As private business enterprises are guided by only profit maximizing objective, they are least concerned with the welfare of local fishermen on back on them they have built their business empires.
All the laborers in the all fish processing plants are imported from Karachi and from as far as Gilgit Baltistan to work in these factories. They have also sponsored foreign fishermen (mostly Bengalies), some of them have no legal documents to stay in Pakistan, to come and catch certain breed of fish like Sim or Bangda, ribbon fish or Chind which are in demand in the international market.
These foreign fishermen use a particular type of net called plastic which has negative effects as of trawling. This extensive pressure on few breeds and prohibited net will systematically destroy the ecological system of the sea same as the construction of the deep-sea port. Therefore, public and private sector are acting in partnership at Gwadar to economically displace the local fishermen of Gwadar.
Recently, security authorities instructed the local fishermen to keep out of the area where the dredging activities are going on. During a discussion of local representative of fishermen and security authorities, one of the Commander of MSA said why don’t you guys go to Sur-Bander, a near by village. The Commander has no idea that these local fishermen generally fish in and around Koh Bahteel and it is economically not viable for them to go to Sur-Bander for fishing. Instructing people to go somewhere else isn’t it a forced displacement of people?
Initially, when the Gwadar Master Plan was not made public, there were concerns for displacement of Gwadar City to somewhere else. Local people and nationalist protested against any such plan and leaders including General Musharraf, Chief Minister Baluchistan and Federal Education Minister’s rhetoric are on record that there will be not any displacement of city.
But by analyzing the above mentioned points rather facts, if with the construction of this port, the very source of livelihood of the local people is destroyed, then it would not be viable for these people to stay on that place. That would certainly results in economic displacement of people. Displacement is displacement whether forced or economic.
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plz pray,
Sardarzada