Bilawal accuses Nawaz, Imran of never respecting parliament’s dignity

• SFD attempting to break GWR of planting most mangrove saplings in a day

THATTA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday lashed out against both Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan and said that they have never respected parliament and now they are giving a lecture on the dignity of parliament.

This he said while talking to media just after launching mangroves plantation at Keti Bandar on Thatta.

He said that Khan’s respect for parliament can be measured by the fact that he did not cast his in the Senate election.

“Now, he has removed his 20 MPAs of KPK Assembly from his party for not casting vote for party candidates, but, as a matter of fact, he himself did not cast vote for Senate election for which he should  hold himself accountable and should also resign from the party,” he said

Talking about Nawaz Sharif’s campaign for restoring the sanctity of the vote, the chairman said he never accepted the sanctity of the parliament. “During his tenure as the prime minister, he hardly attended assembly session for six times and now he is talking about the sanctity of the vote,” he maintained.

Replying to a question about Nadeem Afzal Nadeem’s defection and entrance in PTI, Bilawal Bhutto said he had changed his loyalties even he was present in our ranks. Those who are loyal to the ideology of the party are and will be with us, he claimed.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also addressed on the occasion and reminded that the road from Thatta to Keti Bandar was constructed by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she had visited Keti Bandar to launch Keti Bandar Project.

He said his government has made some good progress in the development of infrastructure all over Sindh. “Still there is enough space to develop the infrastructure in villages, towns and districts,” he said

The CM said that Thatta district is one of the most important districts and has been the capital of the province in the past. Once it was a seat of trade, commerce and learning while vowing to restore the past glory of Thatta and construct a port at Keti Bandar.

FOREST DEPARTMENT ATTEMPTING WORLD RECORD:

Earlier, PPP chairman and the chief minister had separately planted saplings in a small island located in the sea at Keti Bunder to launch ‘mangroves plantation’ drive by the Forest Department to set a new world record.

Bilawal, Sindh chief minister, Provincial Ministers including Nisar Khuhro, Nasir Shah and Ghulam Qadir Malkani were taken in a hover into the deep sea to reach them at the Island where the chairman launched tree plantation drive.

Sindh Forest Department (SFD) having the honour of holding the Guinness World Record (GWR) of Planting most trees in 24 hours, again began the attempt to break its own record of “Most Trees in 24 hours” at Juho district Thatta.

The earlier record set by SFD in 2013 at Kharo Chaan, Thatta district by planting 847,275 is still intact. The current attempt is to plant at least 1,000,000 (one million) saplings of the mangrove species. As per standard fixed guidelines mandated from the GWR authorities, the record has to be set in a 24-hour period by 300 planters only during the daylight.

Briefing the PPP chairman, Forest Secretary Sohail Akbar said that since we would be attempting the record in estuarine intertidal mudflats, the availability of maximum time is critical. Taking assistance from the Tidal Data of the Pakistan Navy, the most suitable was today when we can avail maximum daylight.

The chief minister said the purpose of our attempt is to highlight and showcase the importance of Indus Delta Mangroves, the biodiversity related to it and most importantly, the communities dependent on this precious but threatened ecosystem.

“Our experience of the GWR 2009 and 2013 has brought the coastal areas into the limelight and socio development activities are on the rise in these areas,” he said.

He said that the current attempt is financed by the Sindh government with the logistic and material support provided by the Pakistan Navy. “We expect the support and active participation from media, civil society, local representatives and large volume of the community in this important national event,” he said and added the groups from media as well as representatives both at national and local level would also be able to witness the current attempt and other conservation efforts of the Forest Department.