Sindh didn’t take back decision to seal 11 UCs: minister
The Sindh government did not take back its decision to seal 11 union councils in Karachi, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani clarified on Monday.
On Saturday [April 11], it was announced that 11 UCs would be completely locked down. The decision was taken back hours later, with the government clarifying that only highly affected areas will be sealed.
The minister explained that the notification issued by the East deputy commissioner is still being implemented across the city. “The areas in all those UCs have been sealed,” he said during SAMAA TV’s programme Naya Din.
“Confusion was created because the federal government is deliberately finding problems in decisions taken by the Sindh government,” Ghani said.
The areas that have been sealed are those that have a high number of coronavirus cases and have become hot spots for the virus in the city. Entry and exit points of the UCs have been closed.
“The mechanism is to seal these areas and aggressively test people there,” the minister explained, adding that all those people who test positive will be shifted to isolation wards.
Ghani called that the situation in the city in the last few days “alarming” as the percentage of positive COVID-19 cases have increased.
In these circumstances, even if we want to tighten the lockdown, the Centre has been creating confusion among people, he said. “At this point in time, our goal is to safeguard the lives of the people,” Ghani emphasised. “Yes, we are making mistakes and you can make a list of that for later but now is not the time for political point scoring.”
The minister explained that rations are being distributed in the province door-to-door late at night to prevent people from violating the rules of social distancing.
He, however, opposed the method of the distribution of money through the Ehsaas Programme calling it a “compromise on social distancing”.
“We have suggested the government initiate this service through all banks and start transferring money online through cellular companies,” Ghani said.
If these steps are not taken, all our hard work to save people from the deadly virus will go in vain, he said.
The minister noted that no decision regarding the promotion of students from grades one to eight without examination has been passed so far. “In case of any changes, we will call a meeting and let the public know,” he added.
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