Karachi: Imposition of security tax on DHA residents, traders suggested by civic body

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Azeem Samar
Keeping in view concerns of security and safety of the residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) residents, an umbrella representative association, Association of Defence Residents (ADR), has suggested levy of a uniform tax on residents and traders of the area to sustain a modern security surveillance system being introduced in the Defence areas.

Joint night patrols on mobile vans and motorcycles by policemen and DHA vigilance personnel, establishing check posts on important entry and exit points, and the installation of surveillance cameras on important public places and roads of the area are important features of the extensive security plan being implemented for DHA.

The DHA residents have been forced to resort to paying for a stringent and advance security system given the recurring incidents of high-profile kidnappings, street crimes, crimes against women, and rising fears of sabotage activities by militants.

In its recent correspondence with the DHA administrator, Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) cantonment executive officer, and a member of the CBC, ADR recommended the formation of a committee for promotion of safety, and a tax to be recovered by the cantonment board for ensuring security systems and apparatuses for the area. The proposed committee for security affairs would comprise a member from the CBC, CBC cantonment executive officer, CBC president, who also happens to be DHA administrator, as well as three members of the ADR.

ADR General-Secretary Asad Kizilbash told The News that his association had suggested that money raised through the proposed tax should remain strictly separate from other earnings of the cantonment board made from revenue and tax collection. He said that money raised through the tax should be spent on meeting all expenses incurred to maintain security and surveillance in DHA. The ADR has suggested that a sum of Rs100 should be recovered monthly from residents and traders of the area under the head of the proposed security or safety tax.

The ADR office-bearer also said that the proposed committee and tax for security affairs is the best method of sustaining and ensuring smooth working of the proposed surveillance system. He was confident that the security and vigilance system and tools being installed are worth paying for, and said that the proposed security system necessitated special funding for their installation and uninterrupted functioning.

“There were suggestions considered by residents’ bodies that fee for security system should be collected from residents or traders of the particular areas where cameras are being installed but past incidents taught us that there could be no way of recovering such charges uniformly from all beneficiaries of a particular area,” he said. “We then came up with this idea of bearing security expenses through recovery of a tax from all residents and traders of Defence,” he said. He added that laws of the cantonment board had provision for safety of inhabitants of the cantonment as duty of the board, and thus it would be lawfully justified for the CBC to levy the proposed tax.

DHA Vigilance Director Col Rizwan Ali Nizami said that 15 check posts on DHA roads would be established by June this year. He said that computers installed in these check posts would be connected to the networks of Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and Anti-car Lifting Cell (ACLC) to check entry or exit of suspicious vehicles from DHA without practically disturbing traffic flow.

He said that thus far, the DHA had been bearing the expenses for the surveillance and checking system being introduced in Defence. However, once the authorities decide on expanding the system, the DHA would surely require the support of residents of the area.

SP Clifton Town Police Ashfaq Alam said that the security and surveillance system to be introduced in Clifton and DHA would be very scientific and objective, where through surveillance cameras and computer networks, authorities will be able to keep a strict check on any sort of imminent criminal activity in the area. He said that Clifton police had turned towards the DHA for financial help due to the special and much stringent nature of the surveillance system being introduced in the area.

He said that a vigilance department of the DHA already existed, and the best way of ensuring safety and security of the residents is that the police and DHA vigilance team should work together.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=174202