Murad praises PM Imran for building consensus on lockdown measures
Dawn.com
April 15, 2020
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Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah speaking at a press conference on April 15. — DawnNewsTV
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan for building consensus among the provincial and federal governments regarding lockdown measures in the country.
Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, Shah said the decision that was taken during yesterday's
meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) was that the lockdown in the country should be extended.
"I am happy that the rest of the provinces decided to implement this. There are exceptions [to the lockdown], but they are calculated ones."
A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced that the restrictions imposed by the government on public gatherings, assemblies and the opening of educational institutions would remain in place for another two weeks.
Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar had also said that the government had "identified industries where there is a low risk of the virus spreading" and they will be allowed to operate with standard operating procedures in place.
In today's press conference, the chief minister said that while there was an agreement to extend the lockdown in the country, there were certain items on the agenda regarding which the provincial governments and the Centre did not see eye to eye.
"Some provinces and the federal government had wanted to reopen certain businesses. We opposed the idea for allowing tailors, electricians and plumbers to reopen their businesses," he said.
However, we did concede that plumbers and electricians, that visit homes to provide services, will be allowed to work, after implementing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government, he said.
Today's remarks by the Sindh chief minister come just days after he
lashed out at the federal government for its "mixed signals" which he said made the lockdown imposed in the province ineffective.
But in sharp contrast to his earlier criticism, CM Shah conceded that "at first we did not understand why the construction industry needed to be opened" but that in the briefing yesterday, the prime minister "explained that it was the second largest sector in Pakistan following agriculture" and was crucial to the economy, he said.
"Eventually all provinces agreed on easing some curbs."
