Gilgit-Baltistan security: Expenditure on forces to be cut down

Security of the region had been beefed up in light of sectarian clashes.

GILGIT: Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mehdi Shah said on Friday that the expenditure on the region’s internal security will be cut down by 40 per cent to bring the faltering economy back on track.

“In the first instance, the number of vehicles being used by the security forces will be reduced,” Shah told reporters.

At present, Rs600 million is being spent yearly on the vehicles being used by forces in Gilgit-Baltistan. Security of the region had been beefed up in light of the sectarian clashes that hit the region five years ago when more than 100 people fell to target killings in 2006. Rangers were also deputed in Gilgit to assist the police and are still in Gilgit, putting pressure on the region’s budget.

Responding to a question, Shah said that an “inept” finance secretary was sitting in the federal capital and dealing with Gilgit-Baltistan’s affairs. This, he said, was the main obstacle in release of funds for the region. “In Gilgit-Baltistan too, there are certain government officials working to make the system fail,” he said.

The chief minister also said that his government was investigating allegations of corruption against various sections of the Public Works Department (PWD), adding that the PWD unnecessarily hired people last year, spending more than Rs100 million on their salaries.

The chief minister said that a ban on the transportation of firewood from Chilas to the rest of Gilgit-Baltistan has been lifted in view of the rising prices and decreasing temperature in the region.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2011.