Karachi, May 10, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Minister for Information Syed Hussain Shah has said that lockdown in Sindh was not being completely lifted, only those business activities which were agreed upon between the federal government and all the provinces were being restored under SOPs. The minister said that it was wrong to give the impression that lockdown was being completely lifted in Sindh. “In a situation where the Coronavirus was spreading rapidly in the province, and it was not even known how far it will go, it was impossible for the Sindh government to lift the lockdown completely,” he said.
Shah said that although the situation demanded that there should be no further relaxation in the lockdown, but because the risk of unemployment was increasing in the whole country, and the business community was also worried about their losses, so the federal government and all the provincial governments decided to resume business activities on a limited scale.
He said that any business person or trader who did not follow the standard operating procedures by 100 per cent, he would not be allowed to do business. “God forbid, if the situation worsens, we will have to make tough decisions again,” he said. Shah said that the Sindh government had also written a letter to the federal government to help the traders and all the members of the business community instead of giving them interest bearing loans. The provincial minister said that if the federal government helped the traders, it would indirectly provide job security to the daily wagers.
“We must not forget that the business community has a vital role to play in the economy and job creation,” he said. Shah said that all the decisions taken by the Sindh government from February 26 to date were in line with the vision of Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and in the wider interest of the people of the province as per planning of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah based on the advices of the top medical experts.
The provincial minister said that all the tough decisions had not been taken with happiness but there was no other way to save the lives of the people. He said that although the partial lockdown had not proved to be very effective so far, but it had definitely paid off.
Shah said that if the number of Coronavirus patients in Sindh province started increasing rapidly, then the Sindh government would have to go for a complete lockdown. He said that the Sindh government was with the federal government from the beginning and it still wanted to work with the federal government on the problem of Coronavirus, but we also has to constantly review the objective situation of our province.
He said that whatever was decided in the meeting of the Chief Ministers with the Prime Minister regarding the relaxation in the lockdown, the Sindh government would follow the same completely. Shah said that the Sindh government had been continuously increasing its testing capability to detect people affected from Coronavirus, besides, the medical facilities for the people affected by Coronavirus were also being gradually improved. Shah said that the Sindh government had been continuously increasing its testing capability to detect people affected from Coronavirus, besides, the medical facilities for the people affected by Coronavirus were also being gradually improved.
For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk