News
Sunday, January 30, 2011
‘Witness protection programme summary approved’
* Sharmila Farooqui says Sindh first province to initiate witness protection programme
KARACHI: The Sindh Cabinet on Saturday gave approval to the summary seeking permission for the preparation of draft for witness protection programme in Sindh.
Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information Sharmila Farooqui stated this while briefing the media on the decisions of the Sindh Cabinet, which met here with the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in the chair.
She said the cabinet reviewed and discussed 11-point agenda and took two proposals beyond the agenda with the permission of the chair. She said that Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza submitted the summary with the permission of chair, seeking approval of the Sindh Cabinet for providing protection to the witnesses against criminals and terrorists.
She said that the draft for witness protection bill will be prepared for approval in the cabinet and then submission in the assembly for passage into a law.
Praising the move, Sharmila said that Sindh has become the first province to initiate witness protection programme and we hope that other provinces will follow this. Quoting the example of Shershah incident, she said that the culprits walked safe from the court as the petitioners refused to identify them, perhaps out of fear.
She said that the cabinet unanimously accorded approval to the Child Protection Bill 2010 to stop child abuse and provide protection to street children. Under the bill, child protection units will be set up in the province, besides the creation of a fund for this purpose.
She said that the cabinet also granted permission for enhancing penalties on traffic violations under Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965. The Cabinet granted an upward revision of penalties for 29 categories of violations, out of 63. For negligence in driving, the penalty has been raised from Rs 200 to Rs 300 for motorcycle, Rs 500 for cars and Rs 1,000 for public transport.
The adviser said that the cabinet was told that the Sindh Bank will open 50 branches in 2011, of which three will be set up in Karachi and one in Hyderabad.
The cabinet was told that Rs 52 billion were saved by reducing development and non-development expenditures in the province. Around Rs 13.4 billion were provided for the flood relief and rehabilitation activities. The cabinet was informed that Sindh has a stock of 756,644 tonnes wheat, of which 300,000 tonnes is expected to be consumed while 80,000 tonnes have been reserved for emergency and 371,000 tonnes for exports. Sharmila said that the cabinet constituted a 6-member committee consisting of ministers Pir Mazhar, Ayaz Soomro, Zulfikar Mirza, Syed Sardar Ahmed, Imtiaz Shaikh and Amir Nawab, for preparing proposals for the pricing magistrates. The cabinet also decided to withdraw exemption for MNAs, MPAs, ministers for arm licence fee and all of them will now pay a fee for getting licences. She said that the cabinet also constituted a 3-member committee to prepare proposals for cutting expenses, eliminating redundant posts and reducing expenses on luxury items in all the departments of the Sindh government and submit a report in the next meeting. They are Murad Ali Shah, Syed Sardar Ahmed and Ayaz Soomro.
Sharmila said that the Sindh Cabinet gave a go ahead to the design and construction of a new building for the Sindh Assembly. She said that the cabinet constituted a committee for making recommendations to the Sindh CM whether to repeal services special powers for the appointment.
The committee included Ayaz Soomro, Pir Mazhar-ul- Haq and Syed Sardar Ahmed. The cabinet formed another committee consisting of Syed Sardar Ahmed, Rafique Engineer, Jam Mehtab Dahar and Agha Siraj Durrani to suggest on the renewal of the leases of land. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk