LAHORE, July 10: Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) asked the Forests Department on Wednesday to make tree plantation in public buildings and educational institutions mandatory and initiate projects in collaboration with the private sector to grow forest reserves in the province.
He was presiding over a meeting on the Forests Department at the Civil Secretariat.
The governor directed the Finance Department to provide Rs200 million to the Forests Department for the improvement of its irrigation system.
He said communities should be involved in checking cutting of trees. He said the government would have to deal sternly with all matters. The governor said if the people wanted rule of law and merit, they should support the government in its harsh measures.
He underscored the need for conducting research for introducing new varieties of trees and for the protection of shisham. Botany students in universities and colleges, he said, should be encouraged to conduct research for the production of medicines from plants.
The governor said more recreational facilities should be provided at Chhanga Manga, Jallo and Guttwala parks. Efforts should be made to protect jungles and to plant more local trees.
The governor directed the Agriculture Department secretary to ensure the presence of all kinds of plants in the world in its botanical gardens. If this was not achieved, he said, the gardens would be handed over to some botanical society or the Parks and Horticulture Authority.
In his briefing, Forests Department secretary Shahid Hasan Raja said the department required Rs200 million for the rehabilitation of its irrigation system. Around 1,352 vacancies, he said, lay vacant and the department did not have a wireless system.
He said the province was currently producing 13.577 million cubic feet wood, compared to a demand for 17.43 million cubic feet. This necessitated import of four million cubic feet wood. He said the province used to get wood from Afghanistan but the trade had stopped. As a result its price in the local market had increased.
TEVTA: Presiding over a meeting of the Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority later, the governor directed those concerned to start classes in its 400 institutions from September this year.
The TEVTA would train 59,000 students in 123 trades in accordance with local demand.
The governor said funds should be released for the completion of the polytechnic institutes at Attock, Burewala and Mianwali, and for purchasing equipment for TEVTA laboratories.
He ordered launching of short courses for girls in nursing, glove stitching, fabric printing, poultry and kitchen and garden management.
The meeting was informed that the authority had provided 1,100 computers for the 113 laboratories set up in commerce colleges in the province. Short courses relating to foreign trade, bookkeeping, secretarial studies and salesmanship would be started at these laboratories in September this year.
Earlier, TEVTA chairman Sikandar M Khan told the meeting that the authority (TEVTA) has constituted 25 district boards of management (DBoM) to restructure the technical, commerce and vocational training institutes in the province. Khan said the BoMs of Multan, Sialkot and Gujranwala had also finalized restructuring proposals, including the identification of new courses according to local requirements.
Respective districts’ BoM presidents also briefed the governor about the proposals to reorganize the technical, commerce and vocational training institutes in their respective districts.