PESHAWAR: Residents of Chitral have voiced concern over ruthless cutting of trees in various parts of the district and demanded of the provincial government to take prompt action against timber mafia to save gushing forests. Addressing a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, former MNA and notable of district Chitral, Mualana Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that the forests have been cut down at large scale in Drowsh, Arandu, Drowsh, following the imposition of ‘Indus-Kohistan Policy’ of the district. He explained that one lakh cubic feet timber has been transported from Arandu to Barwal under the Indus Policy and thousands of cubic feet are laying in the godowns in Drowsh, while cutting of trees is still continued, he added. Chitrali was accompanied by Union Council Nazim, Hidayatur Rehman, President Insaf Student Federation Chitral, Nazir Ahmad, former general councilor, Abdul Saboor, tehsil Councilor, Shamsher Khan, and notable of the district Chitral. He urged the government to take stern legal action against the timber mafia and confiscate the illegal timber and impose heavy fine upon the contractors, aimed to stop deforestation and save the future of the nation. Chitrali said that PTI central chairman Imran Khan at one hand raise a slogan of billion trees tsunami while on the other hand his own party led government has started merciless cutting of forests in various parts of Chitral. He urged Imran Khan to take notice of the ruthless cutting of forests in natural calamities hit district Chitral, expose the timber mafia under the cover of certain strong elements in the provincial government, and save the future of living creation. He also warned if Imran Khan and the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa failed to stop the ongoing deforestation in Chitral then Chitrali people would be compelled to launch a movement against the government and for the protection of forests. KP govt, USAID sign agreement to launch ‘Skills for Youth Project’: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Government and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have signed an agreement to launch “Skills for Youth Project” with the aim to impart International Standard Skills Training to the Youth of the Province in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Under the Project 40 CISCO training academies would be established in nine selected districts of the province to provide world-standard training (International Certification) in ICT to over 3000 youth. The Project aims at the growing ICT market in the province that offers a unique entry point for skill based employment and promises to provide employable skills to youth of the province. To this effect a contract signing ceremony was held here on Wednesday in which Provincial Senior Minister for Information Technology Shahram Khan Tarakai and USAID Deputy Mission Director, Kevin Brownawell signed the agreement. Addressing the ceremony as chief guest Shahram Khan Tarakai termed ICT as the only way to a bright future and as one of the top priorities of his government saying that through the effective use of ICT, KP provide maximum employment opportunities to our youth and thus pave the way for national development. He said that keeping in view the importance and need of ICT in the contemporary age, the present provincial government was diverting a lot of its resources towards the promotion of ICT and launched a number of initiatives to harness the young lot with ICT skills which were yielding very encouraging results. Touching upon the “Skill for Youth Project”, Shahram Khan maintained that it was a need of the hour and added that it will enable more than 3000 youth of the province to get certification of International ICT companies including Cisco, Oracle and Microsoft free of cost and without going abroad. “This certification will enable the youth to get employment opportunities not only in the national market but in International market as well”, the provincial minister said.