Islamabad: The government’s flagship ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ project has provided ‘green jobs’ to thousands of daily wagers and labourers amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, a news source reported.
According to sources, around 66,291 workers got green jobs in the project after becoming unemployed due to the closure of several industries in the country during the ongoing lockdown. Project Director Muhammad Tehmasip stated that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Forest Department had provided approximately 22,000 jobs to unemployed workers in forest enclosures, nurseries, and afforestation programmes. He added that the department had taken this initiative following the decisions of the federal and KP governments to create jobs within the green sector during the lockdown.
The project manager revealed that the workers were carrying out jobs in forest enclosures, tube nurseries, and bare-rooted nurseries. He added that the workers were also involved with watering new plantations and mobilising the public for spring plantation drives, protection of jungles, and afforestation. The labourers were receiving PKR 15,000 monthly, and PKR 150,000 per year each, he said.
Tehmasip explained that these jobs were called green jobs as they helped reduce pressures on wildlife resources and forests, combat climate change, economically empower communities, and keep the economy running during challenging periods brought about by events like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He added that the daily wagers and labourers had also been hired to achieve the target of planting 100 million saplings by June 30 under the Ten Billion Trees Afforestation Project.
