NA panel asks govt to crack down against timber mafia

Orders NHA to make necessary arrangements to open Multan-Sukkur motorway on time


​ Our Correspondent August 27, 2019
A Reuters file photo of wood.

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Government Assurances has directed the federal government to take strict action against timber mafia and to open of Multan-Sukkur motorway without delay.

The meeting, chaired by MNA Amir Dogar, was told that more than 10 billion saplings will be planted under Green Pakistan programme. This programme will cost Rs125 billion and the PC-1 of the programme will be prepared in a week after which practical work will start.

The meeting was told that the programme will be run in all four provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the federal capital. Officials told the committee that while the government is making efforts to plant trees, timber mafia is cutting down the jungles.

The committee instructed the authorities to take strict action against such mafia.

It was informed that the Multan-Sukkur motorway will be completed in 3 weeks but could not be opened due to unavailability of the Motorway Police. The committee directed the Ministry of Communication and the National Highway Authority (NHA) to open the motorway and report as soon as possible.

It took notice of the absence of the Federal Directorate of Education’s director general and ordered the Ministry of Education to make a panel of suitable candidates before October 1and send it to the Establishment Division so that the post of director-general can be filled according to rules.

The panel was told that apart from the National Assembly and the Senate, employees of some assisting departments also helped in the budget session. Dinner was announced last year for such employees and this year it was also announced by the state minister for finance but the dinner was not given.

The minister of state for parliamentary affairs informed the standing committee that the federal cabinet has already approved the dinner. The standing committee directed the concerned departments to arrange the dinner for those employees who worked on the budget.

The meeting was attended by Mujahid Ali, Chaudhry Armughan Subhani, Usman Ibrahim, Tahira Aurangzeb, Abdul Akbar Chitrali and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan as well as senior civil servants and the Quaid-e-Azam University vice-chancellor.

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