Forest owners belonging from various areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa demanded the provincial government to lift ban on transportation of marked dry and fallen woods, stocked at open locations in forest covered region, and said the restriction was causing huge financial losses to them.
Speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club here on Tuesday, All Forest Joint Management Committee General Secretary, Sher Mohammad, said the provincial government didn't allow transporting marked dry and fallen timber to other areas, by imposition of ban under the recently announced policy in the province. He termed the new policy was tantamount to economic-murder of the people of forest covered areas, asked the ban immediate be lifted.
Flanked by Sohraab Khan former Nazim Shish area of Chitral, Abdul Baqi, and other forest owners, he said the dry woods, stocked at various depots, have been spoiling due to changing weather impacts. While he said in some places, timber took fire and spoil in floods water, particularly in district Chitral, which caused 60 percent loss to locals and 40 percent to government financial exchequer in the province.
Sher Mohammad said some elements and government officials were trying to create rift between the forest owners and department concerned, aiming to establish situation to confrontation through misperceptions. He viewed the imposition of ban on transportation of marked dry and fallen timber, was against the forest policy of 2003,which has been inflecting huge financial losses, due non-availability of wood storage facility.
Sohrab Khan said the forest covered region is mostly financial backwards and main resource of income, along with dependent on forest royalty by provincial government. He said the government step would compel their families on starvation and hunger, if the restriction on transportation of woods was not lifted immediately. He further said the government was not paying heed towards their issues and grievances, despite generating huge revenue in provincial financial exchequer.
"We are not against the cutting of illegal trees in the forest covered areas in KP. But, the government should only allow the transportation of all prepared dry and fallen woods, Abdul Baqi, another forest owner demanded. He expressed fear that if the dry and fallen timber, was not shifted from forests, then it could have negative impacts on other healthy trees in the forest as the full compartment was infected by specific virus to them.
Whereas, forest owners said the virus was also spreading various diseases among locals and their animals. He said the perception was totally wrong to create environment degradation by forests, and viewed that tobacco crops mostly cultivated in districts Swabi, Mardan, and Charsadda and Hazara division, which was mainly causing for polluting environment and spreading diseases among the people. They demanded the government to immediate restore forest policy 2003 in the province.