PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has retained the services of secretary for the climate change, forestry, environment and wildlife department Shahid Zaman after “some powerful quarters” tried to get him posted out of the province through the Establishment Division.

Official sources told Dawn that on July 25, the Establishment Division issued a notification, saying that Mr Zaman, a BPS-20 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, has been transferred and directed to immediately report to it until further orders.

They, however, said the secretary was asked by Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur to continue working in his current position.

The sources also revealed that the secretary of the Establishment Division was in constant contact with the chief secretary to ensure that Mr Zaman immediately relinquished his charge as the secretary and returned to Islamabad.

Establishment secy in contact with chief secy to ensure Zaman’s return to Islamabad

On August 1, the establishment department formally requested the Establishment Division to allow Mr Zaman to stay put.

In a letter addressed to the secretary of the Establishment Division, it noted that Mr Zaman was currently posted as the secretary of the climate change, forestry, environment and wildlife department and since his posting, the activities of the department have increased manifold.

“The provincial government has assigned some other important task to the officer, [and] it is practically difficult to spare the services of the officer from his current post as his posting out would adversely affect the timely completion of the important tasks under his supervision and subsequently will create difficulties in later stages and therefore, the chief minister had approved to approach the Establishment Division to allow the officer at the disposal of KP,” the letter read.

The department also said that the provincial government faced a shortage of PAS officers in all grades, particularly in BPS-20.

It urged the Establishment Division to review its decision, allowing Mr Zaman to remain at the disposal of the provincial government in “larger public interest.”

On the other hand, official sources told Dawn that Mr Zaman’s actions as the secretary had ruffled feathers of some powerful quarters, who, after failing to get him posted out of the department, resorted to his transfer out of the province by pulling strings in Islamabad.

They said that Mr Zaman’s moves to cancel the previous orders to sell timber worth Rs8 billion from Arandu Gol area of Chitral, withdraw permission to use guzara forests in Hazara division for mining and property development and disallow the establishment of an amusement park in Ayubia National Park led to the attempt to post him out of the province.

The sources said that KP forestry department had previously approved a summary for the disposal of 1.4 million cubic feet of illegal timber in the Arandu Gol area of Chitral Lower. The timber valuing around Rs8 billion is being allowed to be auctioned against the rules,according to sources.

They, however, claimed that Mr Zaman recalled the summary and redirected it to the cabinet requiring the government to seize the illegal timber with two choices vis-à-vis the sale proceeds from the timber either getting deposited with the government treasury or they’re deposited with the government as a special fund for the uplift of the people of Arandu Gol.

“The cabinet has constituted a committee under Adviser (Anti-Corruption) Brig Mussadiq. It is looking into the matter,” an official told Dawn.

He insisted that previously, four illegal orders were issued by conservators for the Upper and Lower Hazara to open up 18,000 acres of guzara forests for mining and property development.

However, Mr Zaman cancelled those orders and initiated departmental inquiries against the relevant officials before sending cases against both conservators (now retired) to the anti-corruption establishment.

They said that the chief minister constituted a ministerial committee and later ordered that the whole matter be brought before the cabinet. A cabinet committee was formed to look into the matter. It held its first meeting last Monday.

The officials said that if 18,000 acres of Makhnial-Khanpur guzara forests were opened up for mining and housing, it would have caused a huge “environmental and water recharge disaster” for the Makhnial-Khanpur area in particular, being a watershed for the Khanpur Dam, which also supplied water to Rawalpindi and Islamabad areas along with its immediate surrounding areas.

They also said that a private company had been contracted by the Galiyat Development to establish a new chairlift along with an amusement park and a hotel on around 120 kanals of land, half of which fell in Ayubia National Park and Reserve Forest.

However, the officials said that the memorandum of understanding, signed by the forestry department and GDA, was neither vetted by the law department nor was it approved by the provincial cabinet as required under the government orders.

They said that the adviser to the chief minister (anti-corruption) and the forest department allowed the establishment of a new chairlift and the refurbishing of structures like restaurants and disallowed the amusement park.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2025