In the extreme heat that allows sugarcane and bananas to flourish in the fields around Nawabshah, builders are busy working on "Zardari House," the home of Pakistan's likely next president. Labourers in one of this southern city's most upmarket suburbs are toiling around the clock to ensure Asif Ali Zardari's mansion will be a fitting residence, whether or not he becomes president. The widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is a controversial figure, known as "Mr. Ten percent" on account of corruption allegations of which he has been cleared. But in the city where Zardari was born 52 years ago, he is a hero. "He is a local boy, a brave man himself and husband of a brave woman who sacrificed her life for restoration of democracy in the country," said Mohammad Shahid, a shopkeeper in the city's main market, Shahi Bazaar. "He is controversial, charged of corruption, but no charges are proved against him, yet he passed 11 years of his life in prison. Who else in our politicians have suffered so much?" Shahid asked. As policemen and private security guards patrol the fortified 15-feet (five-metre) high, 20-inch (50-centimetre) thick walls of the house, watchtowers are being built on each of its four corners. Zardari inherited the house from his ancestors and if he becomes president, he will occasionally spend time here, while living mostly in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Dozens of men queue nearby looking for jobs.