No further closure of education institutions: Sindh Cabinet reviews Rs three billion Sports Complex project

Sindh Cabinet on Saturday reviewed the law and order situation in the province and decided not to extend closure of the educational institutions, Information Minister Shazia Marri told Business Recorder after a press conference at Sindh Secretariat.
Earlier, briefing media about the two-point agenda meeting of the provincial cabinet, she said the cabinet had also held discussion to materialise the pending project of a Sports Complex at M A Jinnah Road, that would be constructed by a Qatari firm at an estimated cost of Rs 3 billion to provide the youth with the most-needed recreational facilities.
The information minister said Home Minster Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, IG Sindh Babar Khattak and home secretary had told the meeting that during 2009 the law enforcement agencies had admirably smashed at least 25 terrorist groups, 16 of them closely affiliated with al Qaeda, encountered at least six terrorists and arrested 56 in different operations.
"The cabinet in today's meeting decided not to extend closure of the schools any further and to ensure this we ordered tightened security to give our children and people, who are a soft target for the terrorists, a perfect sense of protection," she said. According to Marri, the government had held meetings with the parents and the management's of the educational institutions, who have assured to adopt special measures to avoid terror attacks.
Earlier, the information minister told the briefing that the cabinet had decided to beef up security at various sensitive areas and buildings, such as Sindh Assembly, Sindh Secretariat, schools, hospitals and other public places, across the province. She said the law and order situation here is much better as compared to other provinces.
"The schools are being opened from Monday as special security measures have been taken to protect the children," the information minister said. She urged the masses to show courage and solidarity. Only a handful of terrorists were targeting the innocent masses, a soft target, reacting to the military action against them, she added.
The minister said the provincial cabinet had also constituted a four-member committee comprising Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haque, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Revenue Minister Jam Mehtab Dhar and Syed Sardar Ahmed of MQM, to look into different legal aspects of the Sports Complex project, which is envisaged to have facilities such as convention center with a capacity to accommodate 5000 people, a shopping mall and a parking plaza for at least 3000 vehicles.
She said the committee would submit its report within 8 to 10 days as the project was pending since 2003. Marri said the Qatari construction firm would build the recreational facility on 40 percent of the 3.5-acre Sindh government land, while rest of the land would be used for commercial purposes.