Sack officers absent from duty in flood-hit areas, orders CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed all the departments of the provincial government to dismiss the officers who are not on duty in the flood-hit areas and replace them with efficient, hard-working, honest and willing people.

Shah chaired a meeting on Tuesday to review the flood situation and the relief work being carried out in the devastated areas. “We need the best staff members who feel the pain of the affected people and believe in serving them.”

Therefore, he pointed out, the placement of the staff of the health, local government, public health engineering, irrigation and other essential departments should be made accordingly. The CM was given a briefing and presentations by officials of the irrigation and health departments, and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on the ongoing flood drive.

Shah decided that the distribution of relief goods would start from union council level so that it could reach everyone who has been affected and displaced by the heavy rains and floods in the province.

The PDMA said that on Monday they had dispatched 6,873 tents, 500 mosquito nets, 21,200 tarpaulin sheets and 50,536 ration bags to all the six divisions of the province for onward distribution in the calamity-hit areas.

If the total figure of the relief goods is counted, it would come to 203,173 tents, 181,161 tarpaulin sheets and 396,162 ration bags distributed in the affected areas by the PDMA. On Monday, doctors had checked 371,440 patients at flood relief camps in Sindh, diagnosing 18,804 patients with gastrointestinal diseases, 20,968 with skin-related ailments, 8,731 with suspected malaria, 80 with suspected dengue and 43,903 with other issues.

‘Unwise narrative’

Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani said on Tuesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been harming the Pakistan Army through his unwise narrative.

Talking to the media at the inauguration of the 19th Pharma Asia International Exhibition and Conference, Ghani said that the appointment of the new army chief should happen on time, and only the incumbent prime minister should use his authority in this regard.

He said that apart from the appointment of the new army chief, appointments against several key positions need to happen on merit, and that Khan’s narrative in this regard is condemnable.

He also said that teams of the relevant departments and agencies have been mobilised on an emergency basis by the Sindh government to tackle the flood emergency. He pointed out that the Pakistani nation stood united in the face of the massive earthquake of 2005 and the super floods of 2010, but now such unity cannot be achieved due to the PTI.