Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts yesterday put emphasis on ensuring regular inspection and evaluation in forest department through forming monitoring committees in central and divisional levels to stop timber smuggling.
The committee also made recommendation to bring all the officials of forest department under accountability.
The parliamentary watchdog body passed the observation on the basis of the audit objections raised by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) from its meeting held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. Committee Chairman Dr Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir chaired the meeting. Committee members M Abdus Shahid, Panchanan Bishwas, Begum Rebeka Momin, M Shamsul Huq Tuku, Moin Uddin Khan Badol, A K M Maidul Islam and M Rustam Ali Farazi were also present at the meeting.
The Public Accounts (PA) committee elaborately discussed different audit objections raised by CAG office on the activities of Bangladesh forest management under department of forest in fiscal 1999-2000 to 2008-09 years.
The PA Committee also made suggestion to continue the ongoing inventory to assess the quantity of forest land, actual forest, numbers of trees as per species and total amount of wood, as the CAG office raised question on it.
