Daily Times

The Sindh government has miserably failed in providing quick and adequate relief and implementing even a single strategy in the worst situation of coronavirus outbreak, thus rendering people helpless.

What is more worrisome is that the government is still unable to fully estimate the extent of the damage or coordinate relief efforts.

Delaying in updating the provincial tally of coronavirus cases stirred curiosity among the media this past Sunday. Several journalists complained about their efforts to acquire fresh results from the health department authorities going in vain. In some places, the officials placed in charge of responding to queries were present but did not have any details to provide.

According to the last update released by health department, the number of total positive cases in the province stands at 830, with 47 new cases reported at 11.30pm on April 3.

About the availability of COVID kits too, there were conflicting reports. A section of the media reported that the government has been facing a shortage of testing kits for coronavirus tests. However, CM House officials said that around 7,500 testing kits were available with the provincial government, and that the stock was considered to be enough for the next seven days.

On the other hand, the chief minister while presiding over a meeting on Saturday directed the health department to purchase 300,000 more kits so that enough stock could be made available. The opposition parties in Sindh also went so far as to allege that the provincial government was hiding the facts.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader from Sindh, Sheikh said that the government had announced Rs3,000 each for deserving persons, which could never help any individual or family to run their kitchen. But still, he said, the promised amount was not disbursed among the poor. “The Sindh government announced the lockdown without any preparation only to score points. We assured our support and every help to meet the challenge but we were never invited in any of the meetings. If the Sindh government’s failure continues in this pandemic, it can lead to serious issues in the province including law and order situation. The CM and his team must wake up before it’s too late,” he added. The Jamaat-i-Islami also echoed the same concern and demanded that the government coordinate with its institutions in a better way as the challenge to feed the poor segment of society during the lockdown could not be met by welfare and non-government organisations alone. He said there was a serious lack of planning and political will from the government and it had intensified the crisis.

Chief of the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal Sindh Hunaid Lakhani, who also belongs to the PTI, demanded a review of the lockdown decision, saying the restriction was only making life of poor people miserable, as the authorities had not been able to keep the situation under control.

The government claims to have provided relief supplies in many parts of Sindh, but allegations of inefficient distribution have continued to emerge.