EDITORIAL: 16 years is long enough for a child to become an adult, for governments to come and go, and for entire policy agendas to be written and forgotten.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it has also proved long enough for legally harvested timber worth an estimated Rs3.8 billion to remain stacked along roadsides and inside forests, steadily losing its value while successive governments failed to decide what to do with it. If ever there were a more compelling illustration of how administrative paralysis destroys public wealth, it would be difficult to find.
The facts are extraordinary. Under the Dry Wind Fall Policy, timber from dry and wind-fallen trees was legally harvested between 2008 and 2010 after a lengthy process involving official approvals, working plans, marking of trees and third-party validation.
Most of the timber was eventually sold, but around 0.55 million cubic feet was left behind when the policy expired. 16 years later, it remains where it was, exposed to rain, floods and decay, waiting for a decision that should have been taken years ago. The result is an estimated Rs3.8bn in timber steadily deteriorating while nobody in government appears willing to accept responsibility.
Let’s not forget that the loss extends beyond government finances. Under the policy, 80 percent of the proceeds from timber sales were to go to local forest owners, with the remaining 20 percent accruing to the government. Those communities have therefore watched a legitimate economic asset deteriorate year after year because official approvals never materialised.
Forest management depends upon cooperation between the state and local populations. Governments cannot expect that cooperation to endure indefinitely when bureaucratic indecision repeatedly deprives communities of income that legally belongs to them.
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the story is the explanation reportedly offered by officials. According to a senior forest department official, the provincial government has been reluctant to authorise the sale because photographs of trucks carrying timber could trigger accusations of smuggling on social media. If that is indeed the reason for delaying disposal of legally harvested timber for well over a decade, it represents a remarkable admission of administrative weakness. Governments are elected to govern, not to suspend lawful decisions because they fear online criticism.
The argument collapses under even modest scrutiny. The timber was harvested under an approved policy. It was marked, validated and transported through official procedures. Every stage was documented. If governments genuinely believe the process was lawful, transparency provides the obvious answer. Publish inventories, disclose auction details, invite independent oversight and allow public scrutiny of the entire disposal process. Hiding behind the prospect of hostile social media commentary merely creates greater suspicion while guaranteeing continued financial loss.
Unfortunately, this episode reflects a much broader pattern in public administration.
Pakistan rarely suffers from a shortage of policies. It suffers from an inability to implement them. Strategies are announced, notifications are issued, committees are constituted and procedures are painstakingly completed. Then progress simply stops. Files remain pending, approvals are delayed indefinitely and projects gradually lose both momentum and purpose. Years later, governments confront problems that their own indecision has created.
That institutional culture carries enormous costs, of course. Assets depreciate. Investors lose confidence. Public resources are wasted. Citizens become increasingly convinced that official processes exist to delay decisions rather than facilitate them. Every such failure reinforces the perception that bureaucracy has become an obstacle to development instead of an instrument of governance.
The timber lying across Kohistan is therefore more than a forestry issue. It is a monument to administrative inertia. Every passing monsoon further reduces its value, while floods threaten to wash away what remains. Meanwhile, governments continue debating approvals that should have been routine ages ago.
The provincial cabinet should immediately authorise the transparent disposal of the remaining timber, publish every relevant record and establish clear procedures to ensure that harvested timber can never again be left to rot because officials are unwilling to make decisions. Public policy serves little purpose if implementation ends where paperwork does.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026