Army opposes Safe City project under public-private partnership in Karachi

Civil-military huddle decides to not trust private operators with security

KARACHI: The apex committee on Monday decided that Pakistan Army would ensure cybersecurity of "Karachi Safe City" (KSC) project, which would be re-started in specific areas such as Red Zone, Sharae Faisal and entry and exit points of the city on a pilot basis. The project is aimed to secure the city from any kind of crime.

The 23rd meeting of the apex committee chaired by Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah formed an Advisory Committee and Core Committee comprising members from all relevant government departments, law enforcement agencies and representatives of civil society to devise a mechanism to streamline the KSC project.

The meeting discussed different issues relating to the implementation of the National Action Plan and strategy to fight street crime. Adviser to CM Barrister Murtaza Wahan said, "The meeting decided to divide the street criminals in two separate groups, those who use guns and those who do not. Those who use weapons would be tried in anti-terrorism court (ATC) while the others would be tried by a special magistrate."

In the meeting, Home Secretary Kazi Kabir gave a presentation on the National Action Plan and implementation of apex committee decisions, the police IG gave a presentation on overall law and order situation and Rangers DG briefed the meeting on targeted operations.

Rangers Director-General (DG) Major General Mohammad Saeed said that the KSC project shouldn't be a mere installation of cameras but there should be a proper system in place.

Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah said that the KSC project has been terminated from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) modality given the concerns over cybersecurity. The meeting directed the home secretary to go ahead with the project by inviting interest from NADRA, Pakistan Army and Chinese firms. "We would hand over the work on merit to the best offer," the chief minister said.

Street crimes, terrorism incidents, Chinese Consulate attack and blast at Quaidabad were also discussed in the meeting.

The last apex committee had decided to introduce legal reforms to control street crime. In light of that decision, a law has been drafted and submitted to the law department for vetting and review. "The government is committed to eliminating street crime as it has busted gangs," the chief minister said, adding that a targeted operation against the drug mafia, land mafia and their patrons was going on in the city at its full pace.

The Rangers DG gave a presentation on street crimes and said that since January 2017, 3,641 criminals have been arrested. He gave the overview that 43% of the street criminals hadn't completed their matriculation. He added that 2,851 street criminals were habitual criminals, 648 were drug peddlers, 92 were pick pocketers and 50 were gamblers.

The Rangers DG, talking about operations and apprehensions, said that since 2013, 15,611 operations have been conducted and 11,490 persons were apprehended. The chief minister directed the Sindh inspector-general (IG) of police to take extraordinary measures to control street crime.

"I am satisfied that today we are discussing street crime in apex committee, otherwise we used to discuss only terrorism incidents but this is not something to be proud of," he said and added this must be controlled.

Madaris, NGOs

On the draft law for registration and regulation of Madaris, the meeting was informed that in pursuant of the directions of federal government, a `Provincial Working Group' has been constituted under the chairmanship of the home secretary and comprising representatives of the relevant departments such as Social Welfare, Industries, Religious Affairs, School & College Education, Board of Revenue Members, Special Branch Additional IG, Counter-Terrorism Department DIG and Intelligence Bureau Joint Director. The group has been tasked to regulate registration and conduct inspection of not only Madaris but also non-governmental organisations and non-profit organisations.

The meeting also decided that the Madaris constructed on the main roads would be requested to relocate from the main arteries. However, no new NOC would be issued for Madaris proposed to be constructed on the main roads.

The apex committee was informed that geo-tagging of all the 10,033 Madaris has been completed. It was pointed out that out of 10,033 Madaris, 2,309 were closed and 7,724 were functional where 547,695 students were enrolled, including 818 foreigners.



Scrutiny of educational institutions

The security of educational institutions was also discussed in the meeting. Karachi Corps Commander said that scrutiny of all the educational institutions operating under public and private sector must be conducted. He said that the regulation and inspection of funds, their utilisation and curriculum be conducted. "We have to scrutinise from where they {educational institutions] are getting funds and where and how they are utilising them, how many foreign students are enrolled, what are their credentials and what is the quality of their curriculum?" he asked and added, "We have to ensure the best curriculum, proper use of funds and enrolment of foreign students."

CPEC

There are 10 China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in progress in Sindh where 2,878 Chinese are working. For their security, 2,843 security personnel have been deployed. Apart from government security, the CPEC projects have been provided 843 private security guards.

The meeting was informed that the Special Branch carried out a security audit of CPEC projects. The audit report said that the projects have not hired private security guards matching in numbers with persons of law enforcement agencies, district police, special protection unit (SPU), army, rangers and frontier constabulary (FC) which stood at 2,829. They have hired only 843 private security guards.

The apex committee decided to stress upon the management of all the CPEC projects to overcome the deficiencies regarding security equipment and security enablers.

Security of shrines

The home secretary said that the security audit of all 1,899 shrines, dargahs, churches, temples, Jamaat Khanas and Gurdwaras have been completed. Some security weaknesses found in the audit have been pointed out to the Home and Auqaf Departments. The CM directed the chief secretary that commissioners and deputy commissioners should once again be sensitised on the issue of the security of dargahs etc and be asked to invoke the provision of The Sindh Security of Vulnerable Establishments Act 2015 for such shrines.



On the advice of Karachi Corps Commander, the chief minister approved a plan to develop connectivity of katcha [slums] area with developed areas by constructing roads, bridges and providing them necessary facilities such as hospital and schools.

The chief minister, on the advice of the apex committee, decided that rehabilitation and development works would be started wherever operations against criminals have been conducted.

The meeting was attended by Karachi Corps Commander, Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Shah, Works Minister Syed Nasir Shah, CM Adviser on Law Murtaza Wahab, Sindh Advocate-General, Rangers DG, Sindh IG Dr Kaleem Imam, Home Secretary, Sindh Prosecutor-General, CTD AIG and provincial heads of intelligence agencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2018.