PESHAWAR: Timber merchants have expressed serious concerns over imposition of restrictions on import of wood and urged federal government to resolve the issue to save local industries and forests.

Addressing a joint news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, the leaders of different groups of timber merchants said that any decision made in haste would destroy the entire wood business in the country. They said that ban on import of timber would affect a large number of industries that relied on wood as a basic raw material.

Led by All Pakistan Timber Traders Association chairman Sharjeel Goplani, the traders demanded of the federal government to review the conditions for import of timber and bring them in conformity with the international practices so that the import of wood and timber was not subjected to unnecessary procedures.

The traders including former president of Karachi Timber Merchant Group Mukhtar Dosai and vice president Sabir Bangash said that the main problem in the current economic affairs was that dollars were not being provided by the government. They feared a serious crisis in the country owing to stoppage of wood import.

According to a survey conducted in 2015 by United Nations Forest Agriculture Organisation, Pakistan has only 1.90 per cent of forests, which should be 20 to 25 per cent of the total area.

They said it was need of the hour to protect the forests. “We want to tell the government that the pressure on the forests and tree cutting in the country will increase as our glaciers melt rapidly. Deforestation is the main reason for the floods,” they said and asked the government to facilitate the import of wood to save the remaining local natural forests from further destruction.

The traders said that timber being a basic commodity was used as raw material in many industries that employed millions of workers. They said that wood was used in construction work and for making furniture. They said that they would devise a plan to pressurise the government in case their demands were not accepted forthwith.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2023