NA committee concerned over Blackwater presence in Capital

[Omar1984]

NA committee concerned over Blackwater presence in Capital​

* Asks Interior Ministry to submit report
* PML-N submits adjournment motion on issue

By Muhammad Bilal

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior on Tuesday expressed concerns over the presence of US private security agency Blackwater in Pakistan and asked the Interior Ministry to submit a report on the matter to the panel.

During a meeting, presided by Abdul Qader Patel, the committee discussed the issue of Blackwater’s “activities” and its presence in various parts of the country.

The members said there were reports in the media that the US private security agency had been expanding its network in Islamabad and other areas.

The NA body decided to call Interior Minister Rehman Malik to the next meeting to brief the members and make a ‘categorical’ statement in this regard.

The committee members, including former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, criticised the government’s decision to promote police officers, adding that said some senior officers were superseded in this process.

The committee also decided to investigate the cases of all incomplete housing societies registered with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

It would examine audit reports, bank accounts and other details of the cooperative housing societies of National Assembly’s employees, the Senate, Commerce and Jinnah Garden in the next meeting.

It also expressed concern over the “slow-paced and ill-organised development” of the housing societies and directed the Interior Ministry to put forward proposed amendments in the Cooperative Societies Act 1925 and Rules 1927 and make them more common man-friendly.

It observed that the government must put in extra effort to secure the people’s savings and take punitive action against the land mafia who were swindling with the amounts of the people.

Earlier, the committee was informed that so far 49 societies had been registered with the ICT, of which 11 had been issued no objection certificates by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The committee took strong exception to the construction of bungalows at agriculture farmhouses.

Motion: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also submitted an adjournment motion to the National Assembly Secretariat, seeking a debate on the foreign policy, especially in the context of Blackwater’s activities in Islamabad.

PML-N members Asad Khan, Shakir Awan and Javed Shah had signed the motion.

 

[SSGPA1]

This is a good start and hopefully this will lead to a complete ban on this terrorist organization.