Lack of funds delay environment goals

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Environment claimed that the environmental projects scheduled for the year 2009-10 could not be initiated because the Ministry of Finance failed to release funds for them.

An amount of Rs2.2 billion was allocated for these projects, but Ziaul Islam, director of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council (PEPC) said that the Ministry of Finance did not release this money.

Because of the unavailibility of funds, Pakistan was unable to meet the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations. There are eight international development goals that have been chalked out by the UN for developing countries with an aim of achieving them by the year 2015.

Islam said when the finance ministry was asked for the funds, the response was that it had been allocated in the National Finance Commission Award and distributed among the four provinces.

But spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, Asif Bajwa, said the ministry had not received a proposal from the Planning Commission, which is why no funds were released.

Meanwhile, a mega forestry project costing approximately Rs 12 billion could not begin because of the lack of funds, Islam said.

The project included the expansion of forest cover in all four provinces including AJK and FATA. The current forest cover, Islam said, is five per cent and had this project started, it would have increased to six per cent by 2015.

According to documents provided by the Ministry of Environment, deforestation rate in Pakistan is the highest in the world with an estimate of 0.2 per cent to 0.5 per cent annually.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2010.