Cutting trees a crime, says senator

Date : January 26, 2014

ISLAMABAD: Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Friday said that cutting trees was a crime and said that as environment was a national issue it should be treated above party politics.

He was addressing a public hearing by parliamentary committee on environment. Senator Mushahid Hussain is the chairman of the Senate sub-Committee on Environmental Degradation of Islamabad.

The sub-committee is responsible to formulate an ‘environmental action plan’ which will then be implemented by the relevant government departments in federal capital.

Senator Mushahid Hussain said that the right to a ‘clean and green' Islamabad is the fundamental right of the residents.

The participants of the public hearing praised former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry for his decisions aimed at arresting continued degradation of environment and even natural streams of Islamabad.

The Senate sub-committee suggested that there had to be a proposal for waste management system in Islamabad to utilise around 700 tons of solid waste generated daily from the city.

The participants of the public hearing suggested generate power through solid waste of the city. The experts demanded that there has to be a comprehensive policy by CDA aimed at recycling plastic bags.

The assembly sought a designated site for disposal of hospital and clinics waste, and demanded the authorities concerned to take notice of 16 illegal stone crushers destroying the ecology of Islamabad.

The public hearing called for public awareness campaign for implementation of existing laws and preparing future laws to preserve, promote and protect the environment of Islamabad.

However, chairing the hearing Senator Mushahid Hussain said that collective efforts involving the general public could make the implementation of such ideas possible.

“Private-public partnership programmes are needed to achieve the common goals as only the government functionaries alone do not have the capacity and resources to control environmental degradation.”

The next meeting of the sub-committee will be held on February 10 in Parliament House.