Sindbad amusement park has been a source of joy for many in Karachi and its sudden closure has puzzled and saddened residents of the city. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
KARACHI:
Tauqeer Muhmmad remembers fondly his first visit to the Sindbad amusement park. He was wearing new shoes, embarrassingly short knickers and was continuously being reprimanded for being the naughtiest of the half-a-dozen cousins his age.
He remembers a girl in a pink frock who slipped and hurt her knee. That moment still fills him with joy when his brother tried to jump off a dodgem car. He recalls that log-slide - the boat that rushed down a 90-degree slope into a splash of water. All that happened in the 90s but he remembers every detail clearly.
Located along Rashid Minhas Road near NIPA, the park was the first to offer many of the rides, which residents of the city had only heard about till then. It still remains one of just two amusement parks in the city of over 20 million people.
Two decades on, the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) sealed it on Friday night in a sudden move that saw families, along with wailing children, being forced to leave as rides were forcibly shut. The reasons being shared for the sweeping step appear outlandish. "They were using the park for commercial purposes, charging fees from visitors," said Nasir Abbas, the KDA's land director. The land on which the amusement park has been built is KDA property and was rented out to the Dolmen Group, the noted developer of malls and indoor gaming zones that also use the name Sindbad, he said. "There have been other violations of the agreement. They were allotted four acres of land but they have been using eight acres," the director insisted, without sharing further details.
Asked what took the KDA so long to take action when the amusement park has been run as a commercial enterprise since the early 90s, Abbas said: "No one had complained to us about it. Now that we were told, we took this step."
Initially, the KDA had claimed that amusement rides were operating unlawfully on an amenity plot. But senior government officials told The Express Tribune that it is common practice for amenity plots to be used for recreational and health purposes.
Nadeem Riaz, the CEO of Dolmen Group, says the park has been closed without any prior notice. "KDA didn't serve us any notice. Tell them to show me a single official letter, which speaks of their grievances."
The 30-year contract for using the piece of land, which is located adjacent to Aziz Bhatti Park, has never been revised, he said. The contract expires in 2018. "It is the best-managed outdoor amusement facility in the city. We have imported all the rides from Italy. I don't understand where our fault lies," he said.
Riaz hinted at some of the issues, which might have cropped up between the two parties, like the use of a 4-D theatre. "It's not a cinema where we show movies. We entertain kids with special-effect videos."
This is not the first time the city authorities have been at loggerheads with sponsors of an amusement park. Last year, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) ran advertisements warning the public against investing in shops in Aladin Park, which is run by AA Joyland, a company of Siddiqsons Group.
The premise of that confrontation also centred on the argument that amusement parks cannot be used for commercial activities. But in reality, it was all about the share in revenues.
Sponsors of Aladin, which is the most-visited recreational facility in the country with three million annual visitors, say they operate just above breakeven. Unlike international amusement parks, which start receiving visitors in the morning, those in Karachi open their gates at 6pm.
A lack of both international and domestic tourism means there is a limited market, says Riaz. "Even if you take the best roller coaster there is, you would want to ride it twice or thrice and then you'll get bored. But the ride will cost $30 million to be installed." Nevertheless, he says the group will fight the decision to seal Sindbad in court. "It's okay if they want to build another building on this plot. But I won't give up without a fight."
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.
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