KPk parliamentary committee objects to Billions Tree Tsunami project

PESHAWAR (92 News) – The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa parliamentary committee visited Bannu and objected to the Billions Tree Tsunami project. During the discussion in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session, Opposition Leader Akram Durrani and Senior Minister Atif Khan criticized Parliamentary Committee Chairman Shaukat Yousafzai and Forests Minister Ishtiaq Armar. Akram Durrani said that the PTI leaders had claimed about planting 1.25 billion trees, but one 100 million trees could be traced. “The attitude of Shaukat Yousafzai and the Forests minister is not appropriate,” he said. He told the media that the figure was inflated by the authorities, and billions of rupees worth of corruption was committed in the project. He further said that the labourers were paid wages of Rs5,000 which were inflated to Rs15,500 in the government records. The opposition leader also questioned why the accountability departments had chosen to stay silent on the allegations of corruption in the Billion Tree Tsunami project. Atif Khan endorsed the stance of the opposition, saying that Shaukat Yousafzai is busy issuing statements about the changes.

WEF releases report about PTI's billion tree tsunami project

Earlier, World Economic Forum (WEF) had released a detailed report about the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Billions Tree Tsunami project on his website. As per details, the report of WEF appreciates PTI chief Imran khan's for plantation of billions tree project in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The report highlighted the gains made by the PTI through Billion Tree Tsunami project. "Pakistan hit its billion tree goal in August 2017 – months ahead of schedule. Now, the hills of the country’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are alive with newly planted saplings," said the report. According to the report, besides benefiting the environment, the project, launched by Imran Khan's PTI party, has established a network of private tree nurseries, which have boosted local incomes and generated green jobs, including for unemployed young people and women in the province. "It also meant the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government surpassed its 348,400 hectare commitment to the Bonn Challenge. This aims to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land worldwide by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030." However, in the report, it has been evoked that trees should be saved and planted to compete with the upcoming challenges of climate change.