LAKKI MARWAT, Dec 21: District Nazim Humayun Saifullah Khan has said that the federal government should make arrangements for the supply of natural gas recently found in the Karak district, to the Frontier province.

This in order to control the illegal cutting of trees for use as fuel, which resulted in environmental degradation.

He stated this after a meeting with the DCO, DPO and other officials of the district administration here on Saturday.

Elected representatives and elite of the area were also present on this occasion.

He said that the provision of natural gas to the under-developed districts of the province would solve the long-standing demand of the people and would help eliminate the illegal cutting of forests.

The natural gas supply would enable investors to set up small industries in these backward areas, reducing the poverty ratio and improving the standard of life there.

He also demanded the setting up of a gas-run power generation unit in the Karak district, which, he hoped, would ensure the supply of electricity to thousands of people in the southern districts of the province.

He also revealed that former federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan had sanctioned a gas supply project for the southern districts of NWFP, including Lakki Marwat, Tank, Bannu, Karak and Dera Ismail Khan, but the then government was ousted.