PTI lawmakers flay Sindh govt for ‘failing to ensure effective lockdown’

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers on Friday criticised the Sindh government for “failing to enforce an effective lockdown” in Karachi and said that the provincial government was giving rations to hardly 5,000 people, which was lesser than the rations distributed by welfare organisations.

They expressed these views while speaking media persons after meeting Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani at his office.

PTI Karachi president and MPA Khurram Sher Zaman led the delegation that consisted of MNA Aftab Siddiqui, MPA Raja Azhar, MPA Seema Zia, Imran Siddiqui, Fizza Zeeshan and others. The delegation informed the commissioner about the ongoing situation regarding the lockdown in the city and its non-implementation.

“There is no implementation visible of the lockdown in Karachi and we have discussed it with the commissioner,” said Zaman. “Shopkeepers have started hoarding and charging higher prices from citizens. Every now and then we experience a rise in the rates of flour and sugar. Any shopkeeper who is found committing this wrongdoing must be punished and his shop must be sealed.”

Zaman added: “We have submitted our reservations to the commissioner of Karachi and will go to the court of law if our reservations are not properly addressed.”

He said eleven union committees had been sealed in the city, but nobody knew how many tests were conducted in those areas. “The CM Sindh should focus on practical steps rather than personal glorification. The health minister is nowhere to be seen in this emergency situation,” he said.

He said that the federal government was being criticised for the inefficiency of the Sindh government, which was unfair. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Ehsaas Emergency Case programme had been globally praised for its effectiveness and transparency, he claimed.

The PTI leader alleged that the PPP had committed corruption of Rs985 billion, and it was giving rations to hardly 5,000 people, which was less than what welfare organisations were giving away.

“The PTI has done substantial amounts of lawmaking in the provincial assembly, but the PPP government isn’t letting those legislation pass.”

MNA Siddiqui said that the Sindh government announced on March 17 that it would provide rations to the poor families, but there was no implementation. ”There is no sanitising activity in the city to be seen during the lockdown, which would be the very purpose of the lockdown. The government has even closed the OPDs of hospitals, which shows the worsening condition of healthcare in the province.” He demanded opening the OPDs and shifting the quarantine centres out of the hospitals.