PESHAWAR, Jul 08 (APP):Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Standing Committee on Minerals chaired by Ikram Ullah Ghazi here Wednesday reviewed the progress and implementation on the decision taken in previous meeting. The meeting was attended by committee members including Muhammad Yamin Khan, Ahmad Karim Kundi, Zubair Khan, Shehla Bano, and Sobia Shahid, Secretary Minerals and representatives from the Forest Department, Revenue Department, Law Department, Advocate General's Office and the Provincial Assembly Secretariat. …
KP assembly body on minerals meets
PESHAWAR, Jul 08 (APP):Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Standing Committee on Minerals chaired by Ikram Ullah Ghazi here Wednesday reviewed the progress and implementation on the decision taken in previous meeting.
The meeting was attended by committee members including Muhammad Yamin Khan, Ahmad Karim Kundi, Zubair Khan, Shehla Bano, and Sobia Shahid, Secretary Minerals and representatives from the Forest Department, Revenue Department, Law Department, Advocate General’s Office and the Provincial Assembly Secretariat.
The committee reviewed the progress made by minerals department in implementing the directives issued during the previous meeting and examined the follow up measures. Secretary minerals briefed the committee on the department’s performance, ongoing initiatives and overall progress.
During the meeting, Member Provincial Assembly Ahmad Karim Kundi raised various questions regarding mineral leases, reserved areas, protected areas and forest related matters.
Chairman of the committee, Ikram Ullah Ghazi expressed concern that out of approximately 4,000 mineral leases only around 2,000 are currently operational while 765 leases have been cancelled.
Officials from the minerals department explained that lease cancellations were due to a number of factors including the law and order situation, issues related to the use of explosives during mining operations and legal complications concerning forest lands.
Committee member Zubair Khan pointed out that in some cases, the ownership of the land belongs to one individual while the minerals department issues mining leases in the name of another person. Taking notice of the matter, Chairman directed the formation of a subcommittee to conduct a comparative review of the data provided by the forest department and minerals department regarding reserved and protected areas.
The subcommittee would also examine issued mineral leases and procedures followed for their issuance, cancelled leases and the losses incurred by the affected companies. The subcommittee will submit its report to the standing committee which will use its findings to determine the future course of action.
Chairman also directed senior officials of minerals and forest departments to ensure that the views of landowners are duly incorporated while drafting special laws and legislation relating to the minerals sector. He further instructed the relevant departments to ensure their participation in the next meeting with accurate data and complete records.
