Wise suggestion

This refers to the news report ‘Sindh asks Centre to ban inter-provincial transport’ (April 6). I am not a PPP supporter. The party’s performance in Karachi has been quite unsatisfactory. The PPP didn’t raise voice against the results of the last census where the city’s population was misrepresented. However, I have no hesitation in admitting that when it comes to handling Covid-19, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s performance has been exemplary. His policies were frequently criticised by the federal and provincial governments. However, later, the government adopted those policies which, eventually, helped keep the pandemic under control. Now, the chief minister has suggested, quite wisely, to temporarily suspend the inter-provincial transport service to contain the spread of the virus. It is important to mention here that despite the claims of allocating $150 million for the procurement of vaccines, the government hasn’t bought the adequate amount of vaccine doses. At present, the government depends on the doses it received from China as donations. The private sector was allowed to import the vaccine quite late. Once the vaccine doses finally arrived in the country, the government took some time to fix the price. The authorities are also considering manufacturing the vaccine. This decision should have been taken much earlier.

As of now, since herd immunity seems like a distant dream, the only way to protect people against the virus is by following precautionary measures, including a ban on inter-provincial transport for some time. The PTI-led government should act with a sense of urgency.

SRH Hashmi

Karachi