ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari, on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has approved the Islamabad Capital Territory Safe City Camera and Surveillance Infrastructure Protection and Damage Compensation Ordinance.

The ordinance aims to protect Safe City cameras and surveillance systems from damage and ensure compensation for any damage caused to them.

Under the ordinance, financial penalties may be imposed for damaging Safe City cameras and surveillance infrastructure, as well as for inciting or encouraging such damage.

The President’s Office announced the approval in a post on X, saying the ordinance was titled the Islamabad Capital Territory Safe City Camera and Surveillance Infrastructure Protection and Damage Compensation Ordinance.

In case of damage, a fine of up to Rs2 million may be imposed for each camera or piece of infrastructure. If the damage occurs during a public meeting, procession, sit-in, protest, strike or gathering, the organisers may also be held responsible, the Presidency added.

The amount of the fine and the cost of the damage will be determined by an authorised officer after providing the person concerned with an opportunity to be heard.

It further said the person concerned would have the right to appeal against the determination of the fine or cost of the damage before the District and Sessions Judge, Islamabad, within 30 days.

In case of non-payment of the prescribed fine or compensation, the amount may be recovered as arrears of land revenue. The amount recovered in the form of fines and compensation will be spent on the repair and replacement of Safe City cameras and surveillance infrastructure, it added.

The move to protect the infrastructure of the capital comes after the PTI deferred its planned protest to Islamabad until Oct 4 for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

During the 2024 protest by PTI, the protesters damaged 441 cameras of Safe City Authority, according to the officials.