‘Sindh to take action if NCOC doesn’t heed to its transport suggestion’

KARACHI: The government of Sindh would have to take action by itself if Islamabad failed to monitor the coronavirus situation and pay heed to its suggestion to close inter-provincial transport to curb rising COVID-19 cases, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said Thursday.

Addressing an event here at Karachi's Sindh Institute of Animal Health, CM Shah questioned the PTI-led federal government’s decision to impose a coronavirus lockdown earlier when it was the one that criticised the move when Sindh went ahead with the plan.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has his own thoughts on lockdowns but in today’s meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), I reminded him of the Sindh government’s initiative on coronavirus lockdown one year ago today on which we were strongly criticised.

“But if it was that bad an idea, why did the federal government and other three provinces follow it later? It wasn’t bad because we are safe today — firstly, due to God’s mercy — and those were the initial steps.

“The decisions we made in the beginning helped us stay safe from the coronavirus pandemic.” The Sindh chief minister underlined that the PPP-led provincial government had recommended shutting down intercity transport for at least two weeks — which, according to him, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said the NCOC would consider.