Nawaz, Zardari held responsible for economic crisis

Prime Minister Imran Khan said Saturday said that no NRO will be given to anyone and all those who are involved in corruption will be dealt with iron hands. The PM said while addressing a gathering after planting a sapling at Balloki near Sheikhupura as a part of spring tree plantation campaign. "Two National Reconciliation Ordinances (NROs) were offered to Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari," he said. "Both (Zardari and Nawaz) were responsible for the current economic crisis in the country."
He rubbished rumors that the federal government would make any deal with the opposition under the NRO by stating that "NRO implies forgiving criminals." He stated that Musharraf's NRO to former premier Nawaz Sharif and Zardari's NRO in the Swiss bank accounts case are the reasons for the country's rising debts. "It will be treason if the government gives an NRO to anyone," he said. Imran Khan also criticised the opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif and said the federal government had done whatever was possible to execute the affairs smoothly but "we will not allow relaxation to them anymore."
The PM said the government is set to plant 10 billion trees all over the country during the next five years. "Forest land leased out in Punjab should be retrieved. There used to be the largest forests in Chichawatni, Mianwali and Changa Manga which all have disappeared now. We will undertake massive plantation across Pakistan after the retrieval of lands from the grabbers and convert them into forests," he said.
Talking about the alarming rate at which Pakistan's forests have been depleted, the premier said that Pakistan's forests should be protected at any cost. "About 70-per cent of Pakistan's forests have been cut down in the past few years which have created an imbalance in our environment," he said. "We are going to allow construction of higher buildings just so that our cities can stop expanding [horizontally] and encroaching on our forests." Imran further said that the health of Pakistan's elderly population and children is continuously declining as the air we breathe is getting more contaminated. "Our children do not have parks to play; all of those places have been taken over by concrete and cement which needs to stopped immediately," the PM said.
He urged the youth to widely participate in the plantation campaign to make it a success to materialize the dream of green and pollution-free Pakistan. On the occasion, the Prime Minister was briefed about the tree plantation campaign.