ISLAMABAD: The Japanese government will provide 123 vehicles worth Rs435 million to the Ministry of Interior and the National Highways and Motorway Police.

Ambassador of Japan Hiroshi Inomata handed over the first fleet of the vehicles to the ministry at a ceremony held at the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) office on Friday.

This is part of Japan’s Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA) aimed at contributing to the promotion of socio-economic development in developing countries. Speaking on the occasion, the ambassador said the environment-friendly vehicles such as hybrid cars were widely used in Japan.

He added: “This NPGA will provide a good opportunity for Pakistani people to realise positive effects on the environment brought about by hybrid vehicles.”

The hybrid vehicles use less fuel and emit less greenhouse gases than conventional cars, he said, adding that the latest hybrid vehicles from Japan were expected not only to enable the police to reduce cost of fuel for their daily operations but also help the government address environmental challenges. Mr Inomata said: “Security enhancement is indispensable for successful socio-economic development, and the Japanese government remains committed to improving capabilities of law enforcement agencies in Pakistan.”

In the field of security and law enforcement, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has provided training opportunities to around 45 Pakistani police officers for the last 10 years in areas such as forensic science, drug control and terrorism investigation, he added. In addition, Japan also agreed to install scanning devices at three international airports and two ports of Pakistan.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said most of the vehicles would be given to the Islamabad police, the Federal Investigation Agency, Frontier Constabulary, NACTA and provincial governments, including KP.

The minister said the share of the ITP personnel from the amount of ticket fines had been increased from 25 per cent to 35 per cent due to their good performance.

He said cash award of Rs200,000 would be given to two ITP officials on a quarterly basis.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2015

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