ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Imran Khan has underlined that the government is accountable to the people of Pakistan and it is its top priority to protect the state land.
“Recovering the forest land from land grabbers and encroachers is the government’s top priority to increase the green cover of Pakistan,” the prime minister said while chairing a meeting of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) on Housing, Construction & Development in Islamabad on Thursday.
The prime minister emphasised on adopting a systematic approach to deal with the Qabza mafia.
The prime minister said that “curbing on unauthorized land use and restricting horizontal sprawl of housing societies is essential to ensure food security and the provision of better civic amenities like water and sewerage.”
In the meeting, the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to multiply the Country’s forest cover by ensuring forestation on encroached lands.
The prime minister directed that the cadastral survey findings should be shared with the provinces and it should be followed by swift action to retrieve public property.
Imran khan directed the provinces and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to determine how many encroachments were made in the past and how many have been cleared. He declared that he will personally chair the fortnightly meetings to see what progress is made.
The prime minister directed the Chairman CDA Amer Ali Ahmed to create a special cell to save valuable public land marked for parks and forests
Earlier, the prime minister was apprised that the Surveyor General of Pakistan is working in active coordinating with the CDA, Government of Punjab and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to complete the cadastral records of government properties, Islamabad, Lahore and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).
The meeting was attended by the Advisor on Finance Shaukat Fayyaz Tarin, the State Minister on Information & Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, the Special Assistant on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, the Special Assistant on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill, the Governor State Bank Dr Reza Baqir, and senior officers concerned.
The Chief Secretary Punjab and senior officers concerned from the government of Punjab joined the meeting via video link.
