PESHAWAR: Special assistant to the chief minister on information and public relations Shafi Jan on Thursday said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the only province directly facing the devastating impacts of terrorism and climate change for decades.

He, however, complained that the federal government continued to delay and show obstinacy in fulfilling the province’s constitutional and financial rights in an unjust and highly regrettable manner.

In a statement issued from his office, Mr Jan said that KP residents and police made unparalleled sacrifices in the war against militancy, while the province suffered economic losses amounting to billions of rupees.

He also said KP faced severe human and financial losses every year due to floods, heavy rains and other natural disasters.

“Unfortunately, the federal government is turning a blind eye to these realities,” he said.

The aide to the CM said that militancy had become a global issue but its worst impacts had been borne by KP.

He added that the effects of climate change were being felt most acutely in the province, where floods every year destroy public property as well as businesses and crops.

“In such circumstances, it is the responsibility of the federation to provide KP with greater funds on a priority basis compared to other provinces.”

Mr Jan said that due to political victimisation, the Centre was not even paying KP’s rightful dues and that billions of rupees owed to KP, including net hydel profit, were still pending, and the province was being deliberately deprived of its legitimate financial rights.

He said that the development process in the province was severely affected and demanded that the federal government immediately clear all outstanding financial dues so that the pace of development in the province could be further accelerated.

Highlighting the provincial government’s measures to tackle climate change, Mr Jan said that in line with the vision of founder PTI Imran Khan, a record number of trees were planted in the province through the Billion Tree Tsunami and other afforestation projects.

“Forest cover in the province has increased from 19 per cent to nearly 26 per cent, a success that has been acknowledged at the global level,” he said.

The chief minister’s aide said that the federal government was pursuing environment-hostile actions, a clear example of which was the indiscriminate cutting of more than 30,000 trees in Islamabad.

He added that the action amounted to inviting environmental destruction, especially when Pakistan was already facing severe impacts of climate change.

Mr Jan said that protecting the environment was a fundamental responsibility of governments.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2026