The federal government has directed the
chairman of Gwadar Port Implementation Authority (GPIA)
to move its office from Karachi and establish its headquarters
in Gwadar “as soon as possible”.
Sources in the Interior Ministry in Islamabad
said the direction had been made after reports that the
authority office in Karachi could easily become a soft
target for terrorism.
The sources said the Balochistan Frontier
Constabulary inspector general had also been asked to
oversee the security of Gwadar. Sources said that according
to the decision taken at a high-level meeting on law and
order chaired by President Pervez Musharraf on July 1
in Islamabad, the Balochistan FC IG had also been directed
to establish a Quick Reaction Force in Gwadar with gunship
helicopters to enable a quick response against saboteurs
and terrorists as part of a comprehensive security plan
for Gwadar.
They said that a special foolproof security
plan had been devised for the residential and working
areas of the Chinese engineers and the plan would be implemented
soon.
Sources said the government had also decided
to expedite the establishment of cantonments at Kohlu,
Dera Bugti and Gwadar and had asked petroleum companies
in these areas to contribute Rs 600 million over a period
of two years to help establish the cantonments.
They said the petroleum companies would
pay Rs 200 million and the Finance Division in Islamabad
Rs 100 million in a day or two. The federal government
had planned to complete the cantonments in Kohlu, Dear
Bugti and Gwadar in the next two years to secure the oil
and gas fields that frequently came under attack from
terrorists.
They said the government had started moving
a battalion of the army to each of the three sites for
the cantonments, which would be made completely secure
by the end of July. The decision to deploy additional
forces would be taken from time to time by the GHQ if
necessary, sources added.
