Ministry of Finance has supported the request for exemption from Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules by the Ministry of Interior with the argument that China may withdraw a $151.15 million concessional loan if security equipment is not procured from M/S Huawei Technology and, inexplicably, divert the amount to countries like Sri Lanka.
Government''s Safe City Islamabad project envisages procuring sophisticated equipment to reinforce capability of law enforcement agencies to counter terrorism from China. Interior Ministry has argued that the Chinese Company M/S Huawei Technology has proven technology and open tenders may create technical problems.
In December 2010, during Chinese Prime Minister''s visit, a government concessional loan agreement on the Safe City Islamabad Project was signed between Pakistan and the EXIM Bank of China with Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao witnessing the signing of the relevant documents.
Sources revealed to the Business Recorder that Interior Ministry argued that M/S Huawei Technology Co had been solely instrumental in arranging the soft loan. "The soft loan request is tied to M/S Huawei Technology Co proposal and the loan offer is likely to be diverted to other countries like Sri Lanka if not availed in time," sources said quoting Interior Ministry letter.
The Safe City Project was conceived in 2009 to strengthen the abilities of law enforcement as well as intelligence agencies to counter terrorism. Under this project, an effective and adequate security framework would be created in Islamabad and law-enforcement agencies would be strengthened by utilising state of the art technologies. Emergency command centers will be established to handle any incident with centralised control rooms. Effective surveillance system, under this project, will be launched to monitor the movement of un-authorised vehicles.
Security of High Security Zone will be further beefed up and fencing will be raised around it. Gates will be built at entry and exit points of security zones along with installation of CCTV cameras and police guard rooms at the gates. Scanners for checking of vehicles will be placed at the entry points.