PESHAWAR, Dec 15: The federal government will provide over Rs3,000 million for a project to enhance forests in the Frontier province between the years 2007 and 2013.

A meeting with Caretaker Chief Minister Shamsul Mulk in the chair was informed.

The chief minister issued orders to launch the project immediately. The federal government would link the flow of resources to its utilisation.

The chief minister said that the project would have three dimensions-poverty reduction, creation of employment opportunities for locals and increase in forest area and trees in the province.

He called for simplification of procedures for transfer of funds from the federal to the provincial government. He said the government wanted to protect and preserve forests in the province and added that as far as the fuel problem was concerned, gas cylinders would be provided at subsidised rates.

The meeting was informed that there were three other projects in the pipeline, including environmental rehabilitation and improvement of the River Swat costing Rs206 million; improvement of rivers Chitral, Kabul, Kunhar and Panjkora at a cost of Rs1145 million and integrated watershed management for poverty reduction and sustainable livelihood in catchments of Munda Dam costing Rs950 million.