The Post 18th constitutional amendment affairs and problems of the environmental department reviewed and decided that Pakistan Forest Institute would continue to work as affiliated entity with the Environment Department to ensure its enhanced role and provision of better services to the entire country in future
In this connection a meeting of the oversight committee on implementation of 18th constitutional amendment held here on Sunday the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister Information and Culture Mian Iftikhar Hussain in chair.
Beside the committee members, Minister for Education Sardar Hussain Babak and provincial legislator Adnan Wazir, Minister for Environment, Wajid Ali Khan, Secretaries of Administration and Inter Provincial Co-ordination Departments and Additional Secretary Environment while member of the implementation commission Senator Afrasiab Khattak attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed the affairs of the Wildlife, Fisheries departments and Environmental Protection Agency, also thoroughly debated the recently devolved Pakistan Forest Institute and decided that it would continue to work as attached department of the Environment Department to ensure its enhanced role and provision of better services to the entire country in future.
The meeting informed that about 95 percent staff of PFI belonged to other provinces, but the provincial government wouldn't disturb them to ensure their job security.
Similarly, the meeting after thorough deliberation stressed the federal government to share the composition, power and functions of the national environmental council with all the provincial governments and include representatives one each from the provinces in it.
The meeting also discussed the challenge of the climate change and the role of environment department in detail. The meeting also proposed a research and survey branch in environment department on the pattern of geological survey of Pakistan. Briefly speaking on the occasion, Chairman of the Oversight Committee Mian Iftikhar Hussain maintained that the proposal of holding a separate meeting with the department is meant to discuss and review the post 18th Constitutional Amendment's role and remove bottlenecks if any.
He asked the heads of the department to take into confidence the political leadership as well as general public on the issues of common interest to fully propagate it on all forums including media in the supreme interest of common man.