KARACHI:Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that at present no one in the country can say definitively that how far the coronavirus had spread across the country.
The provincial Minister said that now stopping the spread of the coronavirus had not remained just a matter of 15 days or a month, but now it was a long innings that would span over months. He said that if the federal government had fully cooperated with the Sindh government right from February 26 when the first case of Coronavirus came to light, the situation could had been completely different today.
Shah said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had directed the Sindh government from day one that it had to go with Prime Minister Imran Khan on the issue of stopping the spread of Coronavirus, but unfortunately there was no cooperation from the federal government.
The minister said that although the decisions of the Sindh government were later followed by other provincial governments as well as by the federal government too, but the Prime Minister never owned all these decisions that caused serious problems. He said that if the Prime Minister of Pakistan had taken ownership of all these decisions, the effectiveness of lock down could had been different today.
Shah said that it was a very unfortunate act that instead of preventing the spread of Coronavirus and making the lock down more effective, the full concentration of the federal government and its spokespersons had been focused on presenting the Sindh government as enemy of the people.
The provincial minister said that the federal government and its ministers could not bear the praise of Syed Murad Ali Shah in the media. He said that this was the reason that while when the whole world was praising the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and the steps taken by the Sindh government, these federal ministers were making all sorts of allegations against the Sindh government and its Chief Minister.
Shah clarified that whatever decisions had been taken by the Sindh government regarding lock down or other decisions, all these decisions were taken after consulting medical experts and reviewing the measures adopted by the whole world. The Minister said that the task force formed by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on February 27 included top medical experts from country, whose opinion was always considered while taking all the decisions. “If the federal government does not want to co-operate with the Sindh government, it should not criticize our good deeds,” he said.
Shah said that since this was a long war now, we had to change our life style completely. The provincial Information Minister said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had formed various committees which were working on standard operating procedures for various businesses, after which various businesses would be allowed open. He said that those who came into power with the slogan of change should work for the welfare of the people rather than wasting their time criticizing the good deeds of other people.
Shah further clarified that lock down had been imposed evenly in Sindh, adding that, there was no difference of posh and inelegant areas. He said that the budget meeting would also be convened in accordance with the standard operating procedures which according to him were being finalized. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the Prime Minister Imran Khan had never once praised the Sindh government for doing the right0 thing or ad. opting the right measures.