President Arif Alvi on Friday inaugurated Pakistan Boys Scouts Association’s Clean and Green Camporee by plantinga sapling at the scout training center in city’s Scout Colony.
President Alvi also visited stalls set up by scouts engaged invarious innovative schemes including villages representing differentparts of the country.
Addressing the youth and children attending the event, he saidClean and Green campaign was extremely relevant to the country exposedto pollution and massive tree cutting was consequently leading to steadydecline in the forest cover of the country coupled with environmentaldegradation.
“The 10 billion tree campaign is critically relevant and each of usought to participate with due care and should heed equal attentiontowards fruit trees too,” he said adding that safe disposals of garbagealso required urgent attention at community level.Appreciating PBSA for taking upon itself the task of grooming youthand children, he said Robert Baden Powell’s motives must be trulymaterialized and the spirit of volunteerism must be inculcated besidesintroducing them to concepts relevant to the presentday needs.
“Scouting teaches how to live together bringing all sections andsegments of thesociety closer,” said President Alvi reminiscing his days as a boy scout.
He urged the young boy and girl scouts to understand importance ofprinciples promoted by Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah mentioning thatUnity was key to achieve goals that are beneficial for the nation.
The Camporee, a week-long event organized by PBSA is beingattended by some 2,500 boy scouts from across the country along witharound 250 girl scouts assigned with the task to get themselves involvedin tree plantation in the metropolis as well as in their respectiveareas of residence. Begum Samina Alvi, MNA Saifur Rehman, Chief Secretary and Sindh
Scout CommissionerSarfaraz Qamar Dar, Mumtaz Ali Shah, Akhter Habib were also present onthe occasion.