Residents allege embezzlement in forest royalty

CHITRAL: The residents on Monday asked the judiciary to take note of the alleged embezzlement in royalty of forest in the district and punish those involved in the wrongdoings.

Speaking at a press conference Muhammad Yaqoob, Said Hakeem, Amin Uddin, Fazal Khaliq, Muhammad Salahuddin, Mir Faraz, Sher Faraz, Muhammad Rafique and others said when the forest were marked for cutting for commercial purposes a few years ago, it was agreed to distribute the royalty money among the residents of the village.

They alleged that some influential people later formed a ‘fake’ committee under the name of joint forest management committee (JFMC) and received the royalty money which was Rs120 million and distributed the money among them.

The residents said that the area was less developed and the local people hardly managed their domestic budget as their cultivable land was severely affected by the previous flash floods in the district.