PESHAWAR, April 30: The Youth Welfare Society for the Protection of Forests, Dir-Kohistan, has demanded recovery of forest royalty allegedly misappropriated by contractors in connivance with officials of the forest department.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, the chief of the society for the protection of forests, Maulvi Gul Noor Shah, claimed that officials of the forest department paid only Rs85 million to residents and embezzled Rs190 million.

He said that two enquiry committees formed by the government to probe the matter had recommended recovery of the embezzled amount and its distribution among the owners of forests in Kalkot, Lamoti and Gawaldi villages, he said. “But no government implemented the recommendations,” he lamented.

“We demand royalty in the light of the Khattak enquiry committee report,” he said.

He rejected the Forest Ordinance 2002, demanding its implementation after consultation of stakeholders. He said that until they were given the royalty, they would not let anyone to lift timber, lying in their villages.

He said that the MMA government should not adopt apologetic attitude like the previous governments and must pay a serious attention to their problems.

All those assuring the government of solving the forest royalty issue through a Jirga wanted to keep the MMA in the dark, he said. “We categorically say that any decision through the Jirga is unacceptable to them,” he added.