PTI lawmaker decries he was not consulted over closing 90pc of his constituency

A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker has criticised the Sindh government for not consulting the elected parliamentarians, and district and union committee chairmen before deciding to seal the neighbourhoods in District East to limit local transmission of COVID-19.

MPA Arsalan Taj said on Saturday that such announcements of the provincial administration without proper preparation would increase the difficulties of the residents who had already been badly affected because of the current lockdown.

Reacting to the government’s decision, Taj said that 90 per cent of his constituency comprising the areas of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Jauhar would be sealed and cordoned off by the authorities. “But no one has bothered to consult or discuss it with me.”

He said a journalist had informed him about the areas in his constituency being sealed off. The legislator claimed that even the East District Municipal Corporation chairman and the local station house officers were unaware of the government’s decision.

Taj, a member provincial assembly from the PS-102 constituency, said that from day one, the PTI has been asking the provincial administration to engage them in the efforts against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“But the Sindh government has been ignoring the genuine stakeholders of the city completely, and this is the reason that the lockdown has still not yielded any results.”

The MPA said that without engaging local stakeholders, including parliamentarians, local government representatives and civil society groups, the government cannot fight against the pandemic alone.

“The government is in a panic now after the rise of coronavirus cases in the city, and, therefore, announcing decisions such as hurriedly sealing off localities,” he said. “We still want to help and support the government’s initiatives.”

Taj said residents have been asking about the curfew and the cordoning off of their areas from local MPAs, MNAs and UC chairmen and councillors.

He said that even the deputy commissioner did not know the exact number and name of the union committees he had announced to seal off, adding that the DC had used two-decade-old data of the areas.

The MPA said that with the help of the PTI’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal workers, he had drawn a Google Map of the sealed areas of the neighbourhood and circulated it.

“We are public representatives, and residents ask us about these things, as we live in these areas; they don’t ask the deputy commissioners,” he said. “We have to resolve their hundreds of issues during the curfew and the sealing off of their areas.”