PPP lawmakers ask govt to take practical steps for Covid-19 control

PESHAWAR: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Ahmad Karim Kundi has rejected tigers committees constituted by the prime minister and said Prime Minister Imran Khan should take practical steps to overcome coronavirus diseases instead of pushing the country towards destruction.

In a statement on Monday, he said the prime minister was not serious about controlling coronavirus because the number of coronavirus patients was increasing throughout the country, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He urged the government to conduct coronavirus test free of cost because the poor were passing through difficult a situation due to the lockdown. The underprivileged people were being charged in thousands for coronavirus tests and treatment, he added.

Ahmad Kundi asked the PTI-led government to ensure provision of ventilators in government hospitals and take practical steps to save lives of citizens, instead of making mere announcements.

He asked the government to launch awareness raising campaign and provide facemasks, sanitisers and other required facilities to the people forthwith. Another PPP MPA and party’s women wing president Nighat Orakzai held government responsible for the new coronavirus cases and deteriorating situation in the country.

In a statement, she said ineffective measures and establishment of quarantine centre at Pak-Iran border was a joke with the people and Taftan has become a source of coronavirus. The lawmaker said thousands of “Zaireen” came from Iran to Pakistan but instead of sending them to their houses, the government kept them in Taftan without conducting proper tests and not keeping them in isolation. Dozens of people, she said, were kept in a room and people were seen cursing and requesting the government to let them go. The non-serious attitude of the government, she said, have turned “Zaireen” into mentally sick people.

She said the ineffective measures by the government spread coronavirus, adding that representatives of federal and provincial government were seen addressing press conferences and doing nothing practical.