Islamabad - Keeping in view the visit and stay of foreign heads of state, VVIPs and VIPs, the district administration has recommended foolproof security measures for Serena Hotel which also include blast resistant walls, reveal the documents available with The Nation.
The recommendations came during a meeting held here at chief commissioner office on February 9, 2016 which discussed Serena Hotel’s security audit report.
A security survey of Islamabad’s Serena Hotel and Business Complex was carried out by the security division of Islamabad police on the instructions of the chief commissioner Islamabad with ICT administration, Islamabad police, Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Serena Hotel management on the board, in wake of CDA’s operation of removing the security installations and barriers from the periphery of the hotel on January 4, 2016. Agreeing to the advice of SSP (security), the meeting recommended bringing down the VVIP Block wall and putting up a blast resistant wall. The hotel management was directed to consult design expert and architects to incorporate a design solution to be implemented at the earliest.
The permission to the Serena management to encroach upon the state land seems a negation of the observations of the apex court, senate standing committee on house and library and deputy speaker national assembly. They had directed the CDA to remove barriers placed around Serena Hotel in the name of security. The CDA complied with the directions and removed the encroachments on January 4, 2016.
On the other side, the meeting, however, maintained that the decision has been taken after taking into consideration the observations.
Taking a decision viz-a-viz Serena Lane, the meeting recommended immediate resurrection of the parameter fence between Serena Hotel and adjacent PSO Visual Park to secure hotel from the eastern side. The meeting was of the view that at this point, normally the speed of motorcade of the VVIPs is very slow and anyone can jump in from the park side.
“Vehicle searching to be improved at the Serena Lane by placing delta blockers, under vehicle scanning system and boom barriers at the Serena Lane to ensure that the vehicles are properly searched and checked,” the meeting recommended. It also recommended to give hotel management permission to install their gadgets on the roadside to operate the delta barriers. The meeting also recommended that moveable by the operator, steel barriers to be placed on both sides of the road.
In connection with FATA Lane, the meeting recommended a police checkpoint to be established by the operations division (police) at the entry point of the lane to ensure proper checking of the vehicles so that no vehicle can access the high security zone without proper checking.
On Ghazi Ilam Din Shaheed Hostel Road, the meeting recommended a vehicle searching point with boom barrier to ensure that all vehicles are properly checked due to their close proximity of the VVIP drop-off point of the hotel and mosque.
The meeting also recommended that the staff and vendors are subjected to security checks before entering the hostel. It also asked the police to establish a scanning machine point at the start of the road within a security cabin, the documents said.