KP govt mulling plan to facilitate small-scale industries

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said on Wednesday the KP government was working on a plan to facilitate small-scale industries in the present circumstances arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

“A meeting of the representatives of small industries has been convened for a consultation to chalk out a strategy accordingly,” he said while attending a meeting of National Coordination Committee through the video link, said an official handout.

Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting which reviewed in details the latest situation of coronavirus across the country.

Besides relevant federal ministers, officials of the relevant civil and military and chief ministers of all the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir attended the meeting.

Updating the forum on the latest situation of COVID-19 in the province and steps taken by the provincial government to contain the outbreak, the chief minister said that 152 individuals quarantined at Douranpur quarantine centre in Peshawar had been sent home at the completion of 14 days compulsory quarantine period.

He said that all the “Zaireen” quarantined at Daranzinda in Dera Ismail Khan have been sent home whereas individuals quarantined at Gomal Medical College were also being sent homes. Mahmood Khan told the meeting that around 15,000 Afghan nationals had been sent to Afghanistan since the Torkham border was temporarily reopened.

Regarding the reopening of essential industries in the province, he said cement industry had been reopened subject to the observance of safety protocols, adding the provincial government was planning to reopen the tobacco, match and steel industries for which standard operating procedures were being developed. Another communication said Emergency Control Room (ECR) established at Chief Minister’s Secretariat is working round-the-clock to coordinate all kinds of activities and emergencies about the coronavirus pandemic.

The ECR monitors the developing corona situation across the provinces and keeps liaison with the relevant departments and district administrations to ensure prompt and timely response to any kind of emergencies.

The staff of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat has been deputed to work 24/7 in the ECR in different shifts. The ECR also entertains public complaints about coronavirus and takes up such complaints with the relevant quarters for immediate redressal.