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JHANG, May 25: The government has embarked upon a major programme of forestation to bring 10 per cent of the total area of the country under forest during the next five years.
This was stated by Federal Environment Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat while addressing a gathering at the residence of former MNA Nawab Amanullah Sial at Kharkan village, where the latter hosted a dinner in his honour.
The minister said the federal government and the ministry of environment were taking ample measures to provide a pollution-free environment to the people.
In this regard, he said they were envisaging in building at least one park in each of the 6,000 union councils in the country, besides sanctioning one scheme for providing clean water in every union council to be completed by October 2007.
These measures, he said, would help greatly in eradicating environmental pollution in the country. To implement these projects, a national steering committee, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had been constituted.
Mr Faisal said the committee’s prime objective would be to monitor and oversee the progress of projects. He further said that traffic and industrial units were the major contributors to polluting the environment and his ministry, in collaboration with provincial governments, was working to make them comply with environmental laws.
He said the government was determined to take punitive measures against industries responsible for creating pollution.
Referring to the agreement between Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, the minister said such agreements had been taking place in the past and that, too, was not likely to pose any threat to the government.
About the strategy of his party, he said there would be a seat-to-seat adjustment among all four-coalition partners in the government during the next general elections.
THREE GET DEATH: A local court of Chiniot on Wednesday awarded death sentence to three accused with a fine of Rs100,000 each for murdering two persons when they tried to foil a dacoity bid.
They will have to undergo six-year hard jail in case the convicts fail to make the payment.
According to the prosecution, deceased Umar Hayat and Jagday were returning to their house from a fare on June 5, 2005, when robbers Abbas, Imran and Dost Muhammad intercepted them. For offering resistance, armed robbers shot dead both of them.
