To protect and serve: Maintaining order is govt’s prime responsibility says CM

Shahbaz approves recruitment of 2,000 officials for Special Protection Unit.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said that protection of life and property was the government’s foremost responsibility and the authorities should take every possible step to meet this obligation.

Presiding over a meeting, he directed police to strictly monitor the entry and exit points of cities to curb terror activities.

Sharif emphasised better coordination among security agencies to ensure vigilance of anti-social elements.

The chief minister also approved recruitment of 2,000 officials during the next financial year for the Special Protection Unit, a body formed to curb terrorism. He favoured introducing modern technology to improve the law and order.

Sharif asked provincial minister Shuja Khanzada to evaluate the standard of training to be imparted to the new officials and submit a report.

“Improved intelligence sharing and modern training programmes for police are prerequisites to maintaining order.” Sharif said a state-of-the-art command and control centre was being set up at a cost of Rs5 billion to check crime in Lahore. He said the centre would be equipped with modern gadgets and monitoring of several city areas would be carried out through CCTV cameras.

“The centre will not only help check crime but also monitor police’s conduct with citizens,” he said. He ordered the authorities to set up the centre on time.

Earlier, the Home Department secretary briefed the meeting about the centre and the law and order situation in the Punjab.

Separately, Stefan Oswald, the head of German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development on Pakistan and Afghanistan, met the chief minister. They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations.

German Ambassador to Pakistan Cyrill Nunn and provincial ministers Muhammad Shafiq and Sher Ali Khan were also present.

Sharif praised Germany for making speedy development and its expertise in technology. He said Pakistan wanted to benefit from Germany’s growth in technology.

The chief minister said the electricity crisis had caused “irreparable loss” to the national economy.

Sectors such as education, health and agriculture had been badly affected due to prolonged load shedding in the past. He said early resolution of the crisis was essential to boost trade.

The chief minister said the government had been doing its best to overcome the crisis at the earliest. He said cooperation of friendly countries was also needed for the purpose.

Sharif said the government was working with great commitment on projects to generate electricity through hydro, biomass, biogas, solar and other sources to alleviate the problems of the people.

He said work on a solar park in Bahawalpur was underway at a fast pace and the project would be completed by December.

The chief minister said the government had benefited from the expertise of Germany for generating solar power. He said the government was also implementing a comprehensive strategy for the promotion of technical education. He said thousands of youth had been imparted training in various skills under the Punjab Skills Development Fund.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2014.