Cutting mangroves: Minister attends meeting to show his love, believes he doesn’t need to do anything else

Two alleged land grabbers identified, yet no one takes action: residents.

KARACHI: Let us not be fooled that a minister can stop mangroves being cut down merely by implementing policies and catching the perpetrators. The environment minister believes all he needs to do is attend meetings.

“I am here to show my love for the mangroves. I don’t think I need to do anything else to show my concern,” said Sindh Minister for Environment and Alternate Energy Sheikh Muhammad Afzal during a consultative meeting of stakeholders held to prevent the cutting of mangroves along Karachi’s coastline.

The fishermen, residents of fishing villages, environmentalists and other members of the audience were dumbfounded upon hearing these words. Hardly any of them reacted when the minister excused himself after a while for another meeting.

The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) had organised this meeting on Tuesday at Hotel Regent Plaza to discuss the land grabbing ‘mafia’ that has started encroaching upon the mangrove forests.

Before he left, Afzal told a group of reporters that their department has a dearth of funds. “It’s not our responsibility to take action against the [land grabbing] issue,” he said. The department has been sending letters to the port and housing authorities, he added.

The government is planning to conduct a survey to find out the damages to the coastal areas caused by the floods, said the minister. Builders will soon have to take an NOC from their department for the construction of high-rise buildings, he added.

What if the mangroves disappear?

During his presentation, PFF president Mohammad Ali Shah explained that there are two types of mafia — one that cuts mangroves to sell wood to factories and the other that takes over the land. Karachi becomes exposed to sea storms, cyclones and tsunami if these mangroves disappear from the coastline.

There is also a lack of legislative uniformity as far as the mangroves are concerned since they don’t fall under a single authority, such as the Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, Defence Housing Authority and Sindh Forest Department.

Under the UN declaration, Pakistan has endorsed this year as the year of forest conservation, but the government has yet to take action.

Shah also accused the city government of being involved in land grabbing since the alleged mafia dumps the city’s garbage in the land cleared of mangroves. This practice is harmful for sea life, he added.

Kaka Village: land mafia’s new target

According to PFF, Kaka Village - a 27-acre neighbourhood with nearly 300 houses and a population of 2,500 - has become the new target for the land mafia.

Since the trees were continuously being cut, the fishing community decided to take action against them through a jirga. Haji Younus, the head of the alleged mafia, and a former nazim, Zulfiqar Younus, started selling the encroached land. The residents contacted PFF representatives and the police, who refused to lodge an FIR.

Later, the residents held protests and managed to highlight the issue in front of the media but the alleged land grabbers are still creating a nuisance. They threaten the residents through aerial firing and damaging infrastructure. “Our children had never heard gunshots but now they hear horrible sounds that continue throughout the night,” said resident Abdul Ghani.

Pakistan Peoples Party general secretary Taj Haider addressed the issue of the villagers instead of advocating his love for mangroves and lecturing on their importance. Admitting that the two mafia men did enjoy political support, he condemned their actions and assured that at least from now onwards they will not enjoy his support.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2011.