Babar says law for prevention of conflict of interests soon

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan has said the Prime Minister Imran Khan has given the directions to immediately formulate a law for prevention of conflict of interests.

Winding up debate on the presidential address to joint sitting of the Parliament on Thursday the adviser said for the first, the country got a prime minister which did not own any business. “Those who run business on conflict of interests will be answerable to the law and will be held accountable,” he said.

He said credit goes to the PTI government for exposing the sugar mafia, saying in the last five years, a subsidy of Rs29 billion was given while the present government allowed subsidy of Rs3 billion. “We will not allow anybody to act as judge on sugar issue,” he said.

The adviser assured that the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airline and other institutions will be completed in the most transparent manner and as per the law. He said resources generated will be spent on the welfare of the people.

Babar Awan pointed that he agreed with proposal of Khawaja Asif that there should not be any politics on the issue of COVID-19. He pointed out that Pakistan was the luckiest country having no shortage of food commodities while for the first through Ehsas Programme deserving people received financial assistance in a transparent way. However, he said those who did not allow the relief reach to the deserving people would be held accountable.

He said that Madaris which are largest network of NGOs would also benefit from the Ehsas Programme.

Minister for National Food Security Fakhar Imam speaking on floor of the House said that another invasion of locust from Iran was looming over the country in the next one to two weeks.

He said it is the first time in history that swarms entered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Afghanistan while there was also a threat of swarms from Iran in the next one to two weeks. He said the federal and provincial governments are working in close coordination to cope with the challenge posed by locusts. He said a national locust control center has been operationalised to move forward with consensus, adding that there was also a proposal to allocate Rs20 billion in the next fiscal budget for the locust control operations. Of which Rs9.7 billion would be given by the federal government whilst the remaining amount will be contributed by the provinces.

The minister said currently 10 to 11 aircraft have been mobilised for the aerial sprays in the districts affected by the crop munching pests while Pakistan Army has also provided five helicopters for the aerial sprays. The 8000 personnel of Armed Forces are also participating in the ground operations.

Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services Nausheen Hamid said there 107 laboratories across the country which have the capacity to carryout 46,000 coronavirus tests daily. Nausheen Hamid while answering the questions of opposition members said the laboratories would soon achieve the testing capacity of 50,000 daily as per the recommendations of the World Health Organisation. She said they have not only achieved self-sufficiency in personal protective equipment but also exporting them to other countries.

Nausheen Hamid said pointed out that 250 ventilators were provided to the provinces. She said given the increase in corona cases, the government had started preparing 1000 more ICU beds.