Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari has called for strictly
maintaining law and order in Karachi and elimination of extortion at all
costs.
This he said during a special meeting on law and order situation in Karachi here at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.
He
said those involved in heinous crimes be brought to books without any
fear or favour. He said that the existing cyber laws also need to be
re-visited to make them responsive to the reality of the use of
electronic communication in the crimes.
Those who were present
during the meeting included among others Interior Minister Rehman Malik,
Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali
Shah, Home Minister Manzoor Wasan, Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah,
Interior Secretary K. M. Siddiq Akbar, Chief Secretary Sindh Raja
Muhammad Abbas, DG Ranger Maj Gen Rizwan Akhter and other concerned
senior officers besides M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the
President and Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar.
Briefing
about this meeting, Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah
Babar said that during this briefing the President was informed about
the law and order situation and the measures that have been taken so far
to deal with the complaints of extortion, target killings and other
crimes.
It was informed that to deal with the complaints of
Bhatta/extortion, a Special Cell has been established in C.I.A branch of
Police and complaints centers have been established in the offices of
Home Minister, FPCCI, KCCI, Additional I.G Police Karachi range and
office of DIGPs of zones.
The President directed that the
complaint cells be made effective and victims be provided all possible
relief. He said that the safety and security of the victims and
witnesses of all such cases must also be ensured and the victims be
encouraged to report cases of extortion.
The President
emphasized upon the need to strengthen the Police force, investigation,
information gathering system and the prosecution. He advised the
federal government to provide all possible support to the provincial
government in dealing with law and order situation and complaints of
extortions.
Later, the President also chaired two separate
meetings, one on the developmental projects especially the construction
of Kachhi canals and small/medium dams and the other on
Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway--the M-9 project-- and construction of roads
in Sindh.
Those who were present during these meeting included
among others Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan, Federal Minister for
Communications, Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Syed Naveed
Qamar, Federal Minister for Water & Power, Finance Minister Sindh
Syed Murad Ali Shah, Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah and the concerned
federal and provincial secretaries along with other senior officials.
Briefing
the meeting on dams, Chairman WAPDA Mr. Shakeel Durrani informed that
WAPDA had undertaken construction of small/medium dams.
He said
that the tenders for Phase-1 projects were invited on International
Competitive Bidding (ICB) basis and the contracts for construction of
Darawat, Nai Gaj and Naulong Dams were awarded.
He informed the
meeting that the construction of Darawat Dam was at full swing and the
project would substantially be completed by June 2013. On Naulong in
Jhal Magsi and Nai Gaj in Dadu, Chairman WAPDA informed the meeting that
contractors have been appointed and the work would start soon.
Chairman
WAPDA informed that the funding of these three dams namely Darawat,
Naulong and Nai Gaj, was linked with Exim Bank of China.
The
President directed Secretary EAD to sort out with the Exim Bank the
procedural formalities and the flow of funds for these dams so that the
work was not hampered.
The meeting was also briefed about the progress and current status of Winder and Ghabir dams.
During
the third meeting, the progress on conversion of 4-lane
Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway into a 6-lane Motorway, the M-9 Project,
and other roads in Sindh was reviewed.
It was informed that for
M-9 project, the process of signing Concession agreement was completed
during this January and mutation/transfer of land in favour of NHA was
also completed. The meeting was also briefed about the progress on the
construction of roads in Sindh that were damaged due to the floods.
The
President said that the budgetary and financial constraints warrant
exploration of all possibilities of Public-Private Partnership in the
infrastructural projects. He said that the Government was encouraging
direct private investment in the infrastructure development projects.
He
expressed the hope that with the success of M-9 project on BOT basis,
NHA would be able to deliver other projects on BOT/Public Private
Partnership basis to reduce the burden on PSDP resources which could
then be diverted for uplift of remote areas hitherto neglected. Online
