PESHAWAR, Dec 21: A Chinese team will arrive in Islamabad next week to discuss security arrangements before restarting work on the Gomal Zam dam project in the South Waziristan tribal region, officials said.
Brig (retired) Mushtaq, Wapda's General Manager, Project (North), said the head of the Sino Hydro company had been invited to visit Islamabad for a briefing regarding security arrangements.
"The Chinese delegation is due to arrive to take stock of the security situation," he told Dawn by phone from Lahore. He said the Chinese delegation would present its new terms and conditions regarding security measures being taken by the government.
"We are optimistic that the Chinese will soon resume work on the project," he said. The Sino Hydro company suspended work on the multi-billion project after its two engineers along with the security guards were kidnapped by militants on Oct 9.
One of the engineers, Wang Peng, was killed during a rescue operation conducted by the army's Special Services Group (SSG) on Oct 14. Peng's colleague Wang Ende was rescued unhurt.
Authorities believe Abdullah Mehsud, a tribal militant, was involved in the kidnapping of the Chinese engineers. The military authorities have recently announced Rs5 million reward for those who would assist the security forces to capture the one-legged militant.
Official sources said extensive security arrangements had been adopted at the Gomal Zam dam site and the route from where they would travel to prevent any act of sabotage.
South Waziristan's political agent Asmatullah Khan Gandapur would function as chief security officer of the project to coordinate among various law enforcement agencies, an official said.
The federal interior ministry has evolved security plan for the protection of the foreigners under which over 600 personnel of the Frontier Corps and the Frontier Constabulary had been spared for the task.
"The site has been fully secured," an official source said. Additional 10 platoons of the Frontier Constabulary would operate for the security of foreigners in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts.
Under the new security plan, the FC personnel would escort the Chinese engineers during their travelling between Dera Ismail Khan and Tank. Sources sad the district administrations of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank had proposed to provide boarding facilities at Gomal Zam dam site instead of daily extensive travelling between the tribal area and Dera Ismail Khan.
The foreigners will stay at a rest house in Dera Ismail Khan. "We have suggested to the government to make arrangements for the Chinese at the Gomal Zam rest house," an official of the Tank district said.