A year on, K-P tourism police yet to be raised

Relevant bill still awaiting PA approval after cabinet nod

PESHAWAR:

A year after it was first announced, a tourism police force has yet to be formally raised in the province with the move still pending clearance from the provincial assembly.

Last year, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government had decided to set up a special tourism police force in the province. These police officers would be specifically deployed in those five districts which witness a high volume of tourists every year - Swat, Upper Dir, Chitral, Abbottabad and Mansehra. The officers were supposed to not only present a friendly face of police to tourists but would also act as guides with information about key attractions and specifically resolve problems faced by tourists.

The provincial government had approved the recruitment of officers against 300 posts for the purpose.

Last year, some tourism police personnel were even deployed in Landaki, Shamozai, Shangla top, Baharain, Madyan, Kalam areas of Swat and Abbottabad.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the provincial government had released Rs6.5 million for the procurement of uniforms for these officers and other administrative affairs while another Rs4.5 million were released for purchasing patrol vehicles for the force in mountainous Malakand and Hazara divisions.

However, the bill to provide a legal cover to the police force has yet to be presented in the provincial assembly for approval.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, K-P Tourism Department spokesperson Latifur Rehman said that a summary for establishing the tourism police force has been approved by the provincial cabinet and will soon be tabled in the provincial assembly for approval.Peshawar City Tour from Oct 18

The K-P Culture and Tourism Authority has announced a special package for tourists visiting heritage sites in and around the provincial capital. A special bus service offering a tour of the walled city areas will be launched in Peshawar.

The service is expected to commence from October 18 and tickets for a complete city tour will be priced at Rs2,000 each.

A statement issued on Sunday said that the starting point of the bus service will be the Peshawar Museum and it will end in the Ghor Ghatri area of the walled city.

During the tour, tourists can visit the heritage trail, Ghanta Ghar, Sethi House and Sethi Mullah in the area while rerouting to Namak Mandi, Sarafa Bazaar and several other historical places.

Meanwhile, the provincial police department has prepared a list of 500 cops for out of district deployment.

Sources in the K-P police department said that the police personnel who have spent over three years in one district would be transferred to another district.

The police officers would be posted in three different divisions while the police personnel in Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Torghar, Kohistan, Batgram Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda and Peshawar districts would be posted in other districts.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2020.