ISLAMABAD (APP): Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif on Wednesday said, a joint committee comprising representatives from various political parties have been constituted to resume the stalled trade activities with neighbouring Afghanistan at two border crossings including Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan tribal district.
Speaking in National Assembly while replying to point of order raised by Mohsin Dawar, he said the two border crossing points including Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan tribal district were closed since the last two weeks due to tensions among various local tribes.The closure of roads has badly affected trading between Pakistan and Afghanistan, besides affecting economy of the area. Consequently some tribesmen have blocked the roads leading to border crossings. He hoped that the joint committee would look into the problems being faced by the traders, ordinary people and resolve their issues by Friday.
He said the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was deteriorating as protest demonstrations were being held in various areas of the provinces against illegal activities of Taliban. He criticized provincial government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for brazenly receiving the key of 36 vehicles from the United States ambassador in Pakistan.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday apprised the National Assembly that Pakistan has been ranked as the 8th most vulnerable country due to climate change according to “Global Climate Risk Index 2021” in terms of climate related challenges including water stress, desertification glacier melting, extreme weather events and spread of diseases. Replying to a query during the question hour session in the National Assembly, the minister said “I would rather term Pakistan as a climatically affected country despite our meager contribution to the Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions (0.8% as per GHG inventory, 2018)”.
The Minister while highlighting the alleged corruption in the previous regime’s nature conservation projects differentiated that the Billion Tree Tsunami Project implemented in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was already under investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) whereas investigation and audit of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, which was partially funded by provinces was also underway at the federal level. Sherry Rehman said that the National Forest Policy was approved in 2017 by the government for promotion of plantation in the country, adding that the policy provided a basis for the Federal Government to extend support to all provinces and territories towards achieving their respective targets related to forestry and meet international obligations by fulfilling capacity and financial gaps.
The minister said that various major initiatives have been taken to implement the policy. She said that the Federal Forestry Board was reactivated to ensure integrated efforts for improvement of forests whereas six meetings of the Board have been held since 2018. “The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was approved in 2018 to conserve the existing natural resources,” she said. The minister said that protected areas initiative was initiated to improve management of natural habitats of existing protected areas in the country, adding that it was estimated that the protected areas in the country would increase from 12% in 2018 to 15% in 2023. Pakistan’s Forest Reference Emission Level was prepared with the support of all provinces to estimate emissions from forestry sector. It was endorsed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2021, she mentioned. She said that Green Pakistan Programme provided about 350,000 green jobs, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Assembly passes four bills: National Assembly on Wednesday passed four bills and witnessed introduction of three bills which were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration. Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan moved the National Metrology Institute of Pakistan Bill, 2022 and the Public Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which were passed by the House. Likewise, the House passed two bills, including the Iqbal Academy Pakistan Bill, 2022 and the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Both bills were tabled by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbassi.
Earlier, Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan introduced the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Qanun-e-Shahadat (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and the Control of Narcotics Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2022. All these there bills were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration and presentation of reports on them. PML-N lawmaker Ch. Mahmood Bashir Virk presented the reports of standing committees on Interior on the Pakistan Coast Guards (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the North-West Frontier Constabulary (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
He also presented one reports each of Standing Committees on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development; Finance and Revenue and National Food Security and Research. The reports were on three legislative proposals, including the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Federal Government Properties Management Authority Bill, 2022 and the Pakistan Tobacco Board (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
