PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Minister for Environment, Agriculture, Livestock and Food Asif Rafiq on Wednesday said that the provincial government is restructuring and reorganizing the environment department on crash grounds to make it more active.
In the next phase, the damage to the environment, forests and wildlife will be covered whereas the involved mafia will be dealt with iron hands and the lawless elements will be brought to justice without any discrimination, he added.
He said this while answering the questions of the host Dr. Abasin Yousafzai in Pakhtunkhwa Radio’s program Pakhtunkhwa Online at Peshawar. The Station Director of Pakhtunkhwa Radio Ghulam Hussain Ghazi was also present on the occasion.
The provincial minister said that the force of the environment and forest department is actually a force of martyrs, which is being further organized, while in a meeting with the chief minister, a Shuhada Package is also being recommended for this force.
He said that during his caretaker government, we are going to determine the clear directions of all the departments including environment.
In response to a question, Asif Rafiq further said that the Billion tree projects will be continued.
To another question, the provincial minister clarified that a wildlife museum is being established at Peshawar Zoo in order to make it more attractive for tourists, while zoos were also planned to be established in Swat and other touristic places.
On the question related to non-timber forest products (NTFP), he further clarified that under this sector, the sources of income in the forest areas will be increased.
He assured that the continuity of the policies in the province would be maintained and no stopping or halting of any ongoing projects could be envisaged in future.