PAC suggests punishing officials who allow influential men to cut down forests

Officers’ salaries halved to cover ‘embezzled’ amount.

KARACHI:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly has suggested the forest department punish officials found guilty of letting influential men cut down forests.

During the meeting on Wednesday, PAC chairman Jam Tamachi Unar criticised the forest department officials of causing deforestation. “You should set a precedent by giving strict punishment to any one involved in this practice,” he told them.

Criticising the department’s field officials, Umar pointed out that the land allotted under the Agro Forest Lease Policy of the Sindh government was not being used properly. Most people did not cultivate forests on 25 per cent of the land leased to them for that purpose, he observed. “This is a violation of the policy under which land is being given to landless haris,” he pointed out.

For their part, the department officials said that they have asked the recipients to sell 50 per cent of the produce from the trees in order to encourage them to start planting on the land. During the proceedings, 34 audit paras of the department from 2006 to 2009 were discussed and the audit team found irregularities worth Rs44 million. According to the audit director-general, Najmul Sadiq Siddiqi, Rs16 million has been recovered from the department.

Forest secretary Mushtaque Memon protested when the audit team pointed out the irregularities and unverified expenditures. “The audit team has wrongly made claims against my department, I have shown them original copies,” he said. On the other hand, Siddiqi said. “We were given photocopies, without attestation, therefore the team had not verified Rs7 million”.

At this point, Memon stood up furiously and told Siddiqui that, “these are original copies”. “I am going to attest them,” he said. Unar stepped in and told him that, “we all are friends, so there is no need to be emotional. I request you to calm down.”

Siddiqi drew attention of the PAC towards the non-recovery of Rs6.3 million from forest officers. Unar directed the secretary to deduct 50 per cent of the salaries of the officials every month until the amount is recovered. “These officials are not poor. They have made big money by cutting forests in different districts,” he said.

Culture department

The PAC raised the issue of archaeological sites that have been devolved to the province after the 18th Amendment. Culture Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili said that they have obtained control of 131 sites, including Moen jo Daro and the National Museum of Pakistan.

The federal government has asked the department to pay staff salaries and it will provide a budget for the coming year, he said. “We have asked the government to give us a budget till the next NFC Award,” he added.

Uqaili also said that they have sent a summary to the chief minister, demanding Rs500 million to conserve archaeological sites, such as Rani Kot, the Makli Graveyard and Moen jo Daro. “I hope this umbrella project would be approved in the coming Annual Development Plan.”

Even though, Moen jo Daro was handed over to the province, its endowment fund worth Rs75 million has yet to be released. “It is very unfortunate that we cannot maintain the vehicle of Sir John Marshal, who started the excavation of Moen jo Daro in 1926,” said Uqaili. He added that the department does not need a lot of money to preserve the vehicle. It can be repaired with the help of a few local mechanics.

This option was not supported by Sindhi Language Authority secretary Taj Joyo, who said that the preservation and conservation of historical sites should be carried out with the help of archaeological experts. Some work at different sites has been started with the help of traditional masons. “This has changed their originality,” he said.

Unar agreed that the historical sites need special attention because residents have been racing their motorcycles on the archaeological ruins. The department secretary said they have asked the government to impose Section 144 especially on public holidays.

The culture secretary said that the department has allocated Rs31 million to pay stipends to artists and writers. They will pay Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 to each deserving person.

Siddiqi also raised the rent issue the Hindu Gymkhana and petrol pumps located near Jinnah Court, which are the property of the culture department. “The rent from the Hindu Gymkhana and the pumps are not being deposited in the treasury. Instead, it was being deposited in the culture department’s account for over a year,” he said. Uqaili replied that they had been receiving Rs50,000 in rent from Napa but they deposited it into the treasury only recently.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2011.