PHOTO: REUTERS
This was disclosed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control which met at the Parliament House on Tuesday with Senator Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen in the chair.
The committee reviewed the annual public sector development programme for the Ministry of Narcotics Control. Senators were informed that Rs161 million had been allocated for the ministry in the fiscal year 2019-20, while it has consumed around Rs48 million. Asked why such a large sum remains unused with nearly two-thirds of the financial year gone, Narcotics Control Secretary Allah Dino Khawaja explained that the force has yet to pay its utility bills and rent, adding that the remaining sum is expected to be spent before the end of the fiscal year.
Sindh, Centre to combat sale, smuggling of drugs together
For the Anti- Narcotics Force (ANF), the committee was told that until December 2019, the force had utilised Rs 1.33 billion of the Rs2.53 billion earmarked for it. Under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2020-21, the committee was told that 17 projects have been listed.
CPEC a headache for ANF
Senator Brigadier (retired) John Williams asked that why a large number of shipping containers entering the country go unchecked before being unloaded on private properties.
Senator Nauman Khattak suggested installing trackers and seals on the containers to ensure they are not opened en route.
The ANF director-general pointed out that they have a staff of just 2,900 officers deployed around the country. He added that the flow of containers into the country has increased after the Gwadar Port became operational. He added that it has become nigh impossible to check all containers.
He suggested setting up an ANF Directorate for better monitoring of containers. Further, he said that the force must be provided with modern equipment such as drones for better surveillance. He lamented that donors are no longer supplying forensic items to the force.
Responding to a question raised by Senator Khattak, ANF officials said that personnel are usually transferred to it from different forces after a thorough review of their career profiles. Thereafter, this personnel undergo different training programmes and exams before securing a position in the force.
Rising drug use
The ANF chief said that as much as 9,000 tonnes of poppies are grown in Afghanistan every year and around 30% of it is smuggled to different parts of the world via Pakistan but only 11% of drugs being smuggled were caught in Pakistan.
Senator Abdul Qayyum said that he was shocked to learn that some 6.7 million people, including 78% men and 22% women, are drug addicts in the country. The lawmaker added that around 40,000 people between the ages of 15- 65-years start consuming drugs in different forms every year. He added that in 2007, only 90,000 people were using drugs intravenously, but by 2014, this had increased to 0.5 million.
Reviewing the issue of rising drug use at educational institutions, Senator Sabir Shah asserted that drugs are being openly consumed on campuses across the country. He went on to claim that many owners of educational institutions are also involved in the menace.
Senator Shah further inquired why is the government not declaring medical tests for students as mandatory.
To a question about raids on drug smugglers, the ANF chief said that they worked with some 32 law enforcement agencies of the country.
To curb the sale and consumption of narcotics, the official suggested handing out severe punishment to drug-pushers. He also refuted reports of setting up an opioid factory in Tirah, adding that there was only one plant which created medicine for treating cancer.
Senator Shah suggested that the ANF should target specific areas for drug control and went on say that drugs are being openly used in different areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
Drug peddling continues despite crackdowns
Senator Kharram pointed out that even though ANF’s office was situated near the Hayatabad Industrial Area in Peshawar, nearby areas such as the Hayatabad bridge and a university were full of drug addicts.
He recalled how he had retrieved information about drug peddlers from some addicts in the area but soon after, he started receiving threatening calls.
The committee summoned the law and justice ministry secretaries, the K-P Special Branch’s AIG, education secretary and representative association of private schools at the next meeting to deliberate on the matter in detail.
Meanwhile, ANF officials complained that a national assembly (NA) committee has been holding an ANF Bill for the past two years. The committee summoned a copy of the related bill.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2020.
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