Lahore: Punjab’s forestry department recently decided to amend its laws and draft new policies; along with deliberating on a proposal to ban the auction of trees to curb their theft, a news source reported on June 24.
A meeting chaired by provincial Forest Minister Sardar Sibtain Khan was held to discuss the matter, where he was briefed on the new budget and the ongoing development projects. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that appropriate laws would be amended and new policies would be drafted that would allow the department to monitor all the ongoing development projects through the private sector.
He noted that no new policy and laws had been established for the functioning of the department since 1927, and that the old fines and punishments were still be being applied to this day. Minister Khan added that once the policy changes were made, the fines and punishments would uniformly be doubled.
