KARACHI                -                Sindh Minister for Information, Local Government, Housing &Town Planning, Religious Af­fairs, Forest and Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the coronavirus had spread across the country so that govt had to fight against it for a long time now along with performing day to day affairs of our lives.

The provincial Information Minister said that just as the Su­preme Court had said that there should be a uniform policy on issues related to coronavirus, the Sindh Government was with the Federal Government in the wider interest of the people, adding that, it would be better for the people if they were to­gether in the time of pandemic.

He said that separate Stan­dard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were being formulated for each type of business, and all businesses would be allowed to operate under the relevant standard operator procedures. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the Sindh government had been saying from day one that, when the first case of coronavi­rus appeared in the country, if a uniform policy had been formu­lated and an effective lockdown had been imlemented, the situa­tion could had been completely different today. The provincial information minister said that the federal government did not do anything for a long time after the emergence of the first case of coronavirus in the country, but on the contrary, Chief Min­ister Syed Murad Ali Shah, on the instructions of PPP chair­man Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, immediately formed a coronavi­rus task force which included a team of medical experts, adding that, all the later decisions were taken on the advice of these medical experts.

“Today all of us are suffering owing to the delayed decisions taken by the federal govern­ment,” he said. Syed Nasir Hus­sain Shah said that if the federal government had taken all the necessary decisions on time, in­stead of wasting time in criticiz­ing the good deeds of the Sindh Government, the situation would not be so serious today.

The Information Minister said that there was a lot of criticism on why the Sindh Government imposed the lockdown, but no one talked about who decided about imposing the lockdown in other provinces. He questioned whether the railway service and air service were also suspended by the Sindh government? Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that when the coronavirus started spreading in the country, it was at that time that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told the Sindh Government that it had to work together with the Prime Minister and the federal govern­ment. “We wanted to work with the federal government then, and we want to work with the federal government now, and we don’t want to score any points on the issue of coronavirus,” he said.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that our position on controlling the spread of coronavirus was very clear.

The provincial Minister said that the Sindh government wanted the Prime Minister to lead on the issue of pandem­ic, adding that, all decisions should be taken in consultation in the interest of the people. The provincial Information Minister said that if peo­ple’s lives were saved, the economy would continue to recover. He said that accord­ing to the federal govern­ment, if big shopping malls and commercial plazas were not be allowed to open, then what would open in a mega city like Karachi? Syed Na­sir Hussain Shah said that the Sindh government was well aware of the problems of the business community, but the government had taken all the decisions in the context of the situation. “We did not make the decision to close the businesses happily but we had no other option,” the provincial Informa­tion Minister said. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah also appealed to the people to celebrate Eid with simplicity this time, and spend whatever they used to spend on themselves for the welfare of the people who had been affected severely by the lockdown. The provincial In­formation Minister said that our faith and morality also demanded to help the needy generously in tough times.