We need a national action plan on the coronavirus, said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. But prioritising the economy over people’s lives isn’t the way to go, he said. “We can revive a dead economy, but not dead people.”
During a Monday morning press conference, the chief minister shared details of Sindh’s cases and the number of tests it has conducted. He said In the past 24 hours Sindh has tested 531 people and 41 cases are coronavirus positive.
“This isn’t my issue or yours or Sindh’s or even Pakistan’s. It’s a global issue,” he said, adding that if someone makes a mistake in another corner of the world, eventually it will reach him in Sindh.
You can’t make decisions alone, said Shah. “If I make a decision and you don’t follow it, I won’t be safe. I can’t keep myself safe by staying locked up in my house,” he said.
He denied that Sindh imposed the lockdown thoughtlessly and said they tried to adopt the world’s best practices. “There is no right answer,” he said, adding that the only way to win is to stay ahead of the virus.
“The day the virus overtakes you, when your health services collapse, you will fall behind,” he said. CM Shah said they will make mistakes and have made them. “But one mistake I will not make is not doing anything.”
He said the biggest mistake in this situation would be not to act at all. Shah said that he was very glad that the other province’s followed Sindh in imposing lockdowns but had hoped the federal government would implement a nation-wide policy instead of leaving up to the individual provinces.
He raised some grievances he has with the federal government, including the fact that on March 13, the Sindh health department sent a comprehensive list to the Centre of things needed and they haven’t got the supplies in the numbers they needed.
The effectiveness of the lockdown is being compromised due to mixed signals, he said. Some provinces are doing one thing, others do something else and the federal government says something else entirely, so people are confused.
“Abuse me as much as you want but let’s all go in the same direction together,” said Shah.
He also discussed ration distribution and said gathering crowds to give the rations defeats the purpose of the lockdown. Sindh wanted to do a cash transfer instead of physical transactions but we needed a lot of help from the Centre and didn’t get it, he said, adding that while he supports the Ehsaas Cash Programme, it isn’t appropriate. “We’re distributing the cash because of the lockdown to stop people from gathering, but to give it we’re getting people to gather so might as well end the lockdown.”
He slammed people for not understanding the severity of the lockdown and said they know how to revive a dead economy, not how to revive dead people. Does anyone go hungry in Karachi, he asked. If you hear of someone going hungry you rush to give them something, someone or the other will go help them but even if your closest relative gets coronavirus you won’t go see them, he said. I’m tired of saying this, he added.
“Yes, the economy has taken a hit, the world’s economies have taken a hit. Yes the construction industry has sunk and exports are down. But nothign is more important than people’s lives.”
He said despite the issues, relief efforts are under way in the province and it hurt him to hear the things people are saying about Sindh’s relief efforts. He said there was no point in taking pictures of ministers or the government distributing rations. We did it at night and we did it door to door so that people don’t gather, said the chief minister, adding that the government has quietly distributed 150,000 bags so far and none of them were paid for with the coronavirus emergency fund.
He said charitable organisations have helped so much and he is so grateful for them. So far, they have given 300,000 bags. But no one will be allowed to give rations if crowds gather, he said.
We are trying not to let this virus spread to poor areas and villages. “God forgive me, if it goes to villages because of us, we can’t handle it.” Right now, the only thing on the Sindh government’s mind is saving lives, he said.
He also addressed accusations of misappropriation of the emergency fund and said the details of every rupee donated and spent is on the finance department website. An audit will also be conducted, he said.
He broke down the money in the fund and said Rs3 billion was from the government– 50% was MQM and PPP MPAs who gave up their salaries and high ranking officers who did the same and the other half was from government funds. We spent money to get kits and for procurement through Indus hospital and to set up the field hospital at the Expo Centre.
We aren’t getting what we need in terms of equipment and testing kits, he said, which is why they asked the federal government for help. They’re in a better position to get these things, he said. Sindh’s vendors said the equipment is in London and there is no way to get it here and when we went to the consulates, they helped as much as they could but said ask the federal government to contact our government, said Shah.
That is not to say that the Centre hasn’t given Sindh anything. Shah said they are grateful for whatever they have been given but they expected that if a provincial government was able to procure first 10,000 and then 50,000 testing kits, the federal government would be able to do much more.
Sindh’s testing situation is targeted, said the chief minister, adding that it’s very scientific. According to the WHO, Sindh is the only province testing according to the WHO’s methods, he said.
Shah said in Sindh, you are not getting tested because you can afford it. Around 90% of our tests so far have been free, he said, adding that there are people who have paid for them and that is their choice. We have been testing poor people in low income areas and that is why we have somewhat of an understanding of the virus.
Regarding critics, he said they should keep criticising the government. Do it for as long as we are alive, you and me, but for now we need unity, he said.
The opposition all said we’ll do what the prime minister says, but he must make a decision, don’t say everyone can do what they want, said Shah.
The way forward, according to him, is a national action plan and national narrative on the coronavirus. “We were all on same page about terrorism after the APS Peshawar massacre, not before that. We had to see our children’s corpses before getting on the same page. What are we waiting for now? To see bodies?”
