In an statement issued on Thursday, the CIAA has also directed the ministry to take action against individuals found guilty. [break]
The anti-graft body has asked the ministry to implement the directives issued by the Natural Resources and Means Committee of parliament. The directives were issued by the committee after conducting a detailed study of the forest areas in the country.
The statement reads that the CIAA has received scores of complaints about irregularities while selling the forest products, and directed the ministry to sell such products at fixed prices.
While stating that there are financial irregularities during logging and selling of woods, the CIAA has also directed the ministry to adopt e-bidding and abide by the existing regulations for financial transparency.
The CIAA has also taken serious note of the complaints about logging in forest areas and selling the logs as products from private forest. To prevent the practice, the CIAA has directed the ministry to form a monitoring mechanism to ensure the transport of only the products that are actually from private forests.
Stating that there are complaints about massive deforestation in the far-west Nepal, the national ant-corruption body has asked the ministry to step-up field visits to the areas and take action against the guilty. Concluding that massive deforestations across the country might lead to desertification of lands, the CIAA has directed the ministry to jump into action immediately.
Similarly, the CIAA has also asked the ministry not to transfer civil servants flouting existing government rules.
Related story
Forest Ministry renamed as Ministry of Forests, Environment, an...
