A meeting of the Cabinet Committee, formed for the disposal of left over illegally cut timber in Kohistan District, was held at the Civil Secretariat Peshawar on Wednesday in the chair of NWFP Senior Ministers Rahimdad Khan and Bashir Ahmad Bilour.
It was attended by the Provincial Ministers Nimroz Khan, Mohammad Shuja Khan, Wajid Ali Khan, Mohammad Ayub Khan Ashari and Mehmood Zeb Khan as well as concerned officers of the Forest Department.
During the meeting the Cabinet Committee's members thoroughly debated the matter of disposing off the illicitly cut timber and proposed various rates for imposing penalty on various types of timbers that would be submitted to the Provincial Cabinet for final approval to dispose off the timber at the earliest and save it from corrosion.
The meeting also proposed that some share of the revenue generated through the disposal of the timber should be placed at the disposal of the Forest Department so as to further strengthen it with the required staff and regulate the illicit cutting and smuggling of forests in future. The meeting was informed on this occasion that the illicit cutting of forests in Kohistan took place before 2005 and the disposal of the timber would give revenue of about one billion rupees to the government.
Addressing the meeting the Senior Ministers Rahimdad Khan and Bashir Ahmad Bilour directed the concerned authorities to take necessary measures for enhancing the forest cover as well as protection of the already existing forests in the province so as to raise revenue and minimise the damages caused during natural calamities like floods and earthquakes.
They said that they wanted the disposal of the illicitly cut timber in Kohistan in a very transparent manner and would not take any decision that could earn bad name for their government as well as harming the interests of the country and the nation.