Existing cyber laws also need to be re-visited Pakistan

Islamabad, 22 March 2012:

President Asif Ali Zardari has called for strictly maintaining law and
order in Karachi and elimination of extortion at all costs and those
involved in heinous crimes be brought to books without any fear or
favor. He said that the existing cyber laws also need to be re-visited
to make them responsive to the reality of the use of electronic
communication in the crimes.

This he said during a special meeting on law & order situation in
Karachi here at Aiwan-e-Sadr today.

Those who were present during the meeting included among others
Interior Minister Mr. Rehman Malik, Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad
Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Home Minister Mr. Manzoor
Wasan, Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Interior Secretary Mr. K.
M. Siddiq Akbar, Chief Secretary Sindh Raja Muhammad Abbas, DG Ranger
Maj Gen Rizwan Akhter and other concerned senior officers besides Mr.
M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President and Spokesperson
to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar.

Briefing about this meeting, Spokesperson to the President Senator
Farhatullah Babar said that during this briefing the President was
informed about the law and order situation and the measures that have
been taken so far to deal with the complaints of extortion, target
killings and other crimes. It was informed that in order to deal with
the complaints of Bhatta/extortion, a Special Cell has been
established in C.I.A branch of Police and complaints centers have been
established in the offices of Home Minister, FPCCI, KCCI, Additional
I.G Police Karachi range and office of DIGPs of zones.

The President directed that the complaint cells be made effective and
victims be provided all possible relief. He said that the safety and
security of the victims and witnesses of all such cases must also be
ensured and the victims be encouraged to report cases of extortion.

The President emphasized upon the need to strengthen the Police force,
investigation, information gathering system and the prosecution. He
advised the federal government to provide all possible support to the
provincial government in dealing with law and order situation and
complaints of extortions.

Later, the President also chaired two separate meetings, one on the
developmental projects especially the construction of Kachhi canals
and small/medium dams and the other on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway--
the M-9 project-- and construction of roads in Sindh.

Those who were present during these meeting included among others Dr.
Arbab Alamgir Khan, Federal Minister for Communications, Finance
Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister
for Water & Power, Finance Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah,
Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah and the concerned federal and
provincial secretaries along with other senior officials.

Briefing the meeting on dams, Chairman WAPDA Mr. Shakeel Durrani
informed that WAPDA had undertaken construction of small/medium dams.
He said that the tenders for Phase-1 projects were invited on
International Competitive Bidding (ICB) basis and the contracts for
construction of Darawat, Nai Gaj and Naulong Dams were awarded. He
informed the meeting that the construction of Darawat Dam was at full
swing and the project would substantially be completed by June 2013.
On Naulong in Jhal Magsi and Nai Gaj in Dadu, Chairman WAPDA informed
the meeting that contractors have been appointed and the work would
start soon.

Chairman WAPDA informed that the funding of these three dams namely
Darawat, Naulong and Nai Gaj, was linked with Exim Bank of China.

The President directed Secretary EAD to sort out with the Exim Bank
the procedural formalities and the flow of funds for these dams so
that the work was not hampered.

The meeting was also briefed about the progress and current status of
Winder and Ghabir dams.

During the third meeting, the progress on conversion of 4-lane
Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway into a 6-lane Motorway, the M-9
Project, and other roads in Sindh was reviewed.

It was informed that for M-9 project, the process of signing
Concession agreement was completed during this January and
mutation/transfer of land in favour of NHA was also completed. The
meeting was also briefed about the progress on the construction of
roads in Sindh that were damaged due to the floods.

The President said that the budgetary and financial constraints
warrant exploration of all possibilities of Public-Private Partnership
in the infrastructural projects. He said that the Government was
encouraging direct private investment in the infrastructure
development projects. He expressed the hope that with the success of
M-9 project on BOT basis, NHA would be able to deliver other projects
on BOT/Public Private Partnership basis to reduce the burden on PSDP
resources which could then be diverted for uplift of remote areas
hitherto neglected.