KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to establish and ensure close coordination between the Sindh police and the Special Security Division (SSD) force, which has been created for the security of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and the crew working on these projects.

The CPEC projects and the associated crew were being provided security as they were very important for the prosperity of Sindh in particular and the country in general, Mr Shah said.

The chief minister was presiding over a meeting on the security of CPEC projects launched in Sindh. Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, SSD head Major-General Abid Rafiq, Home Secretary Shahid Parvaiz Qazi, IG A.D. Khowaja, Lt-Col Nisar Ahmed and Lt-Col Fawad attended the meeting.

Mr Shah said that work on 13 CPEC projects had either been started or was being taken up at present. “All these projects have national importance, therefore, the Sindh government has created a separate police force for their security,” he said.

He added that this was why he kept holding meetings off and on to review security measures.

In some CPEC projects, residential colonies and villages were being affected but the affected people would be given compensation, he said. “In Thar, not only compensation has been given but also a model village is being built to provide homes, health and educational facilities to the affected people,” he said.

About the Karachi Circular Railway, the chief minister said that some people had built concrete and mud houses along the route. The government would give compensation to only those affected people who had set up settlements before the year 2012, he added.

The chief minister decided to establish close coordination between SSD and Sindh police for proper security arrangements.

Earlier, the IG police said that out of the 2,000-strong CPEC security force, 1,023 ex-army personnel had been appointed to provide security to the projects and the Chinese nationals working there.

The SSD head, Maj-Gen Abid Rafiq, told the meeting that the Chinese were working at 424 different projects — both CPEC and non-CPEC — and their security was very important. The chief minister said the Chinese national working in Sindh were being provided security. Police regularly issued them security advisories through private companies and through diplomatic channels, he added.

It was pointed out that the Chinese were working in 72 different companies. The companies had also been taken into confidence to take necessary measure for their security.

Police chief A.D. Khowaja said that he had recruited 16,000 policemen purely on merit on the recent instructions of the chief minister. He added that 10,000 of them had been provided special training by the army.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2017