LAHORE:
Most of the security devices installed at Governor’s House are out of order, the governor’s deputy secretary has written in a letter to the home secretary, inspector general of police and commissioner.
The letter, dated October 12, states that Special Branch officials did a survey of the security equipment and found that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system had been out of order for a long time.
Four ‘pan tilt zoom’ (PTZ) cameras and 10 still cameras installed at various places are also out of order. The scanners to check beneath vehicles and an X-ray machine at the front porch of Governor’s House are not working. An X-ray machine at the back gate has never worked properly.
The deputy secretary wrote that the equipment was out of order because it was not properly cared for and maintained. He said that Governor’s House was at risk of terrorist attack and the equipment was needed to keep the place secure.
Sources in the police department said the Punjab government had provided Rs6.5 million for the replacement of security gadgets at Governor’s House this financial year. They said that the police did not have personnel trained in maintenance of the equipment.
The Lahore Police had already refused to provide extra security personnel to Governor’s House because of a personnel shortage, said the sources. Lieutenant Colonel Mazharul Hassan, the military secretary at Governor’s House, had written to the IGP stating that 15 of 45 pickets in Governor’s House were unmanned. He asked the IGP to immediately deploy 68 well-trained policemen with a good record.
Sources said that IGP Javed Iqbal had directed Capital City Police Officer Ahmed Raza Tahir, DIG Operations Ghulam Mehmood Dogar and SP Security Jawad Qamar to provide the desired security, but they reported that they did not have enough personnel.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ