Daily Times

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said the country needs a unified stance on COVID-19 as the federal government was send mixed messages which were responsible for the SOPs violations.

The chief minister was addressing media after appearing before the Rawalpindi chapter of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Sindh Roshan Programme case.

CM Sindh blamed the federal government and said that people were not taking the pandemic seriously due to the mixed messages they are being given. He added some people were taking it seriously, while others were dismissing it as the common flu while it is a fatal disease.

The chief minister said that the centre had voiced concern for the economic impact of the virus on the poor. However, he said that the lives of the poor mattered the most and questioned that if they started dying, who will take care of their children.

“There should be a unified message [from the government] that this is a life-threatening disease,” he said. “This is serious.”

He blamed the media for playing up the issue and said that had he not appeared before the anti-graft body to provide his version, media would have speculated that he was about to be arrested.

The chief minister said that he had answered NAB’s questions regarding the Roshan Sindh programme scheme when the anti-graft body asked as to why the scheme was approved later when it wasn’t included in the budget.

“I answered them that the scheme which is not under discussion can be approved later, according to the constitution,” he said, adding that the Roshan Sindh programme was approved by the assembly later. CM Murad said that he had not been provided with a questionnaire by NAB but whenever he receives it, he would respond to it.

The bureau has said in the past that some of the accused, Abdul Sattar Qureshi, Abdul Rashid Chana, Aslam Pervaiz Memon and Baldev have agreed to take a plea bargain.

The Sindh Roshan programme case is one of the many ones falling under the fake accounts case. It relates to the installation of solar-powered street lights allegedly on allegedly illegal contracts in various districts of Sindh.

The chief minister arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday evening for the hearing. The bureau had also summoned Murad a few months back in the same investigation but he did not appear.