PTI promises 5 million jobs under ‘environment-friendly economic offensive’

The Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday became the only party of the country to have unveiled its environment policy, vowing to shift in the country’s primary focus on the provision of a clean environment and clean drinking water for all and this right would be ensured through the “Green Development Agenda” of the PTI.

“The PTI will include the provision of clean environment mandatory in the constitution while it will also generate five million green jobs through an environment-friendly economic offensive leading to an alternate and sustainable economy,” PTI Chairman Imran Khan said while addressing the launching ceremony of the party’s environment vision.

He said the country had been incurring a loss of over Rs 1 billion every year due to environmental pollution, adding that after coming into power, the PTI will ensure implementation of its green development agenda and public parks would be declared mandatory for all urban areas.

PTI senior leaders including Shafqat Mahmood, Jahangir Tareen, Naeemul Haq, Amin Aslam, Israr Shah, and Ishaq Khakwani were also present.

Addressing a large gathering of PTI workers and environmentalists, Imran said the PTI was the only party which had introduced an environment policy and the credit for this went to the party leadership. He said the nation was not aware that an increase in the mortality rate of animals, deforestation, and waste of other natural resources was akin to suicide for the country.

“The coming generations will have to face dire consequences, if we fail to overcome these environmental crises,” said Imran, adding that the nature had gifted Pakistan with such resources which could not be find anywhere else in the world. “But due to lawlessness and incapability of the rulers, the country was under the burden of foreign loans,” Imran said, adding that environment pollution had devastated the country and according to an international organisation more than 0.3 million children were being killed in the country every year.

The PTI chief said the facility of clean drinking water had become a dream… the government had ignored the environment, and the education and health sectors during the announcement of budgets, adding that none of the political parties, barring the PTI, had included these sectors in their party manifestos.

“Keeping in view all the issues, the PTI has not only included the environment sector in its constitution but has also made it a part of the party’s manifesto,” Imran said. He said lawlessness had crippled the country as the rulers used government departments for their vested interests.

Imran said the Pakistanis were the bravest nation in the world for enduring [Asif Ali] Zardari as their president for five years, adding that even a country such as the US would have defaulted on its loans had Zardari been their president.

Taking notice of the media-PTI workers scuffle in Gujranwala, Imran ordered an immediate inquiry against those responsible and also sought a report within 24 hours.

He said formation of the Kalabagh dam without consent of the people of Sindh was not in the country’s interest.

The PTI chief said the Asghar Khan case had proved which parties needed the support of the agencies and which did not, adding that the PTI neither needed big names nor did it need the support of agencies.

He said parting ways with the American war was the only way to bring the country out of the current crisis.

Earlier, former minister for environment Malik Saleem Aslam announced the party’s policy on environment. He said the rate of environmental pollution in the country was very high and Pakistan was on the top in the list of those countries which were suffering the most from the climatic change, adding that due to the same reason the country was facing earthquakes and floods for the past several years.

Aslam said the PTI was the first political party to include “environmental conversation” in its party’s constitution. He said the PTI would focus on the issue in its manifesto as well as integrate it in its economic development vision.