Arif Habib To Pump In Additional Rs750 Million

Construction to continue apace even as existing residents faced flooding damage owing to poor urban planning and design
The original Nazimabad, named after the first Governor-General Khawaja Nazimuddin, was a middle-class suburban neighborhood in Karachi, established in 1952. North Nazimabad, was designed for federal employees. As they housed mostly refugees and immigrants from India, these neighborhoods came to embody the promise of ‘Pakistan’ – prosperity for the middle class. To this day, they command some of the highest per-square-foot prices in Pakistani real estate.

‘Naya Nazimabad’, the Arif Habib Group project, has been trying to galvanize a similar sentiment for the new middle class of Karachi, which may have been somewhat dampened (pardon the pun) by the recent flooding that took place in Naya Nazimabad following the torrential downpour in the city. Mahim Maher, a journalist with considerable expertise on Karachi, reported that part of the reason for the flooding was the poor urban planning on the part of the contractors hired by the Arif Habib Group.

Nonetheless, despite that setback – and despite its refusal to compensate current homeowners in Naya Nazimabad for their flood damage – Arif Habib is moving ahead with its plans for the development. In a notice sent by the Arif Habib Ltd to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on August 28, at the next annual general meeting to be held on September 16, the company is looking to approve some serious investment for other companies within the Arif Habib Group. In particular, Javedan Corporation, which owns Naya Nazimabad, is asking for a fresh investment of Rs250 million in equity, and Rs500 million as a loan.