Islamabad: Plan to build wall around ‘Red Zone’ discarded

[Naveed Yaseen]

Rs6b scanners to be installed at 19 entry points of capital
Shakeel Anjum
Around 19 key entry points have been recommended for the installation of heavy scanners out of a total of 96 entry points in the federal capital, the interior ministry sources told ‘The News’.

These 19 key points are the links from where the explosive-laden vehicles can sneak into the federal capital, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the authorities have discarded the plan of constructing a ‘security wall’ around the ‘Red Zone’ in the federal capital for the protection of highly sensitive buildings and vital installations including the Presidency, the Prime Minister House, the Parliament building and the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the reliable sources told ‘The News’.

One of the three committees headed by the Senior Superintendent of Police-Traffic was entrusted with the task to find out ways and means to check the inflow and outflow of traffic through these entry-exit points of the federal capital.

The second was headed by the chairman Nadra that was given the task to look into the technical aspects of the whole project and submit its recommendations, as to what could be done to deal with this problem while using the available technology.

The third was headed by a director of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) that was tasked to look into the issues regarding security of important buildings within the Red Zone.

“These committees were constituted on the orders of the President Asif Ali Zardari, to look into the pros and cons of construction of this ‘security wall’. All the three committees have unanimously recommended abandoning this ‘security wall’ project. Instead, these committees have recommended to install ‘explosive scanners’ at the key entry/exit points to not only the ‘Red Zone’, but at the main entrances of the federal capital as well,” the sources told ‘The News’.

At the other entry/exit points either well-equipped check posts would be set up or there is possibility that some of those may even be closed altogether if there is easy access available in close vicinity, mainly on the facing Rawalpindi across the IJ Principal Road.

The sources told ‘The News’ that the estimated cost of installing scanners at 19 entry/exit points would be around Rs6billion (about Rs300 million per scanner). On the other hand the estimated cost of construction of wall around the ‘Red Zone’ was initially calculated to be around Rs8 billion, with high chances of escalation in the cost of the project with the passage of time.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=143271