IN an exhaustive report, the sugar inquiry commission has delivered a damning indictment of the country’s sugar industry. Governments of the past and the present are coerced by the sugar lobby and any decision taken to support the mills through subsidy or export allowance is entirely reliant upon rigged and unverified data supplied by the mills themselves.

What is passed off as aid for farmers inevitably ends up lining the pockets of mill owners.

The commission did what it called a forensic analysis of the accounts of the mills under investigation. Finding the accounts inaccurate, it proceeded to construct numbers which reflected better the actual state of play.

The recovery ratio of sugar from cane is manipulated by the mills. In Punjab, there is a 30 per cent difference between sugarcane recorded as produced by farmers and the sugarcane reported as crushed by mills.

The actual production of sugar is underreported by mills whilst speculative forward sale contracts are facilitated by them.

A murky world of hoarding and profiteering on the basis of delivery orders issued by mills in favour of fictitious buyers allows hoarders to drive up the price of sugar whilst using the mills as a storage spot. The commodity never moves whilst being traded between speculators.

Even though there is a fixed crushing season, cartelisation ensures the price varies inexplicably through the year.

According to the report, the sugar industry regulators fail to prevent illegal activities. The Sugar Factories Control Act is violated with impunity.

The rules framed are similarly disregarded. There exists a ban upon expansion of crushing capacity in Punjab since 2006, but mills have expanded nevertheless.

The SECP needs to review and monitor the sugar mills’ accounting practices, acquisitions and inter-company transactions. According to the report, it has failed miserably

The Sugar Advisory Board should monitor and address the industry to protect the farmers’ interests. It acts instead as an extended lobbying arm of the mills, interested only in securing their subsidies and export quotas.

The cane commissioner should independently monitor the quantity and timeliness of amounts paid for sugarcane and the recovery ratio of sugar from the cane, as well as the capacity use by mills. None of this happens. The cane commissioners’ offices, situated in urban centres, are completely reliant upon data provided by mills regarding purchases and recovery ratios.

The FBR functions as a silent spectator, relying on mill-supplied data for the compilation of sugar costs, which do not properly exclude the revenues made from ethanol manufacture out of crushed sugarcane. It fails to catch billions in benami transactions.

Since Jan 2015, the mills have received over 29 billion rupees as subsidy whilst the tax demand is under half that amount. They are a strain upon public resources, a loss to the exchequer.

This analysis has been rejected by mill owners like Jahangir Tareen, whose family owns a majority share in the JDW group’s sugar mills. According to Tareen, the estimates of actual earnings, as reported by the commission, will not stand the test of an independent scrutiny.

The report puts emphasis on the Punjab government’s “unjustifiable’ sanction of three billion rupees as freight support subsidy. It blames the chief minister for signing off on the subsidy, highlighting in para 246 that he now claims no memory of having done so.

The decision to forward the freight support decision to the provinces was taken by the ECC. As such, the then head of the ECC and its commerce adviser, Asad Umar and Razzaq Dawood, have been politely accused of telling untruths.

What they left to the province after allowing sugar export for ‘relief of the farmers’ (as mills had threatened to not start the sugar crushing season otherwise) was stated thus:

“The ECC underscored the importance of providing relief to farmers by ensuring the start of crushing season at the earliest. It was also decided that since the entire issue of freight support arose due to varying procurement prices of sugarcane fixed by provincial governments, the freight support may be determined/paid by the provincial governments.”

Punjab argues that the decision to export sugar had already been made by the Centre, and it was only acting on a directive to determine whether a quantum of freight support would assist the ECC decision.

The ECC advises the cabinet, which is the ultimate decision-maker. If Usman Buzdar can be ridiculed for signing off on subsidy without recollection, why is the report silent on the federal government’s actions. This opened the door to the Punjab subsidy in the first place.

Is the prime minister not answerable for the same lack of oversight which has made such a mockery of his chosen chief minister?

Jahangir Tareen is free to dispute arbitrary calculations, but he will have a hard time rebutting other allegations in the report.

The commission interviewed Amir Waris, a ‘cashier and rider’ who works for Tareen’s JDW group. According to the company record, since 2017 he withdrew Rs2.54bn from public limited mills.

On being queried by the commission, JDW tried to pass them off as meant for ‘centralised expenses such as statutory payments, utilities, import clearance costs, salaries and wages’.

No statement regarding any single cash payment was provided.

The cashier then deposited Rs1.299bn into accounts of private companies and individuals, mostly related to or members of the Tareen family.

Such a bleeding of a publicly owned company for the benefit of its majority shareholders is the dictionary definition of embezzlement. It amounts to siphoning off a public company’s resources for the benefit of influential private parties.

Princely jets

In the table of cash deposits, there is a payment to a Pakistani chartered airline, called Princely Jets (Pvt) Ltd. The payment relates to the period under inquiry and includes the run-up to the 2018 general election.

It is a substantial amount — Rs 54.5 million, to be precise.

To qualify as a legal payment, it would have to be one made in pursuit of the mill’s own business. In which case it would be made through formal banking channels. Why was it made in cash?

Whose flights were these cash payments being made for? Why did a cashier from Jahangir Tareen’s publicly listed mills allegedly pay Rs54.5m to a private charter service for a period which covers the 2018 elections?

Who was flying around the whole country in such a glamorous style at the time?

In a country where a PM has been disqualified because he had not withdrawn receivables in a privately owned company which he failed to declare, while another PM has suffered months in jail without charge at NAB’s hands, those princely flight manifests are well worth publishing.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: On the first day of the National Assembly’s fresh session on Friday, the opposition called for threadbare debate on the Covid-19 pandemic, locust attack, sugar scam, air crash in Karachi and proposed contracting out of the airports’ management, as many of its members openly violated the social distancing measures adopted across the world to ward off cases of new coronavirus.

Speaker Asad Qaiser, who had himself contracted the virus, was chairing an assembly session for the first time since recovering from Covid-19. And the session was mainly devoted to paying tribute to MNA Munir Aurakzai, who died recently of the fatal disease.

Repeated violations of the social distancing measures in the house forced Mr Qaiser to express anger and at one point he threatened to wrap up the proceedings. “You don’t know what I and my family have suffered during this ailment. Please keep (a safe) distance from others; otherwise I will end the session,” he said when some MNAs went over to their colleagues’ seats to discuss one thing or another.

The house was paying tribute to a member who died of Covid-19 and session was chaired by Qaiser who recently recovered from it

Some members, including Sanaullah Mastikhail, expressed concern over non-availability of doctors in the building. As a result, they said, the members could not be tested for the virus before the start of the session.

A team of doctors deputed to the assembly had gone off to carry out tests of passengers arriving from abroad, they said. Talking to media personnel outside the Parliament House, Mr Mastikhail pointedly asked: “Is there only one team of doctors to conduct tests of the entire nation?”

Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf of the Pakistan Peoples Party also complained about what he called the irresponsible behaviour of the members, and said: “Please realise how dangerous Covid-19 is. People are going to others’ seats. Please be careful, it’s a fatal disease.”

Earlier, MNA Khawaja Asif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the assembly should hold debates on the five issues mentioned by the Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif in his letter to the speaker.

Mr Ashraf endorsed Mr Sharif’s views on behalf of his party.

Later, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said the government was ready to discuss all the issues mentioned by the opposition leader, including the sugar crisis, from Monday onwards. “It is because of Prime Minister Imran Khan that the sugar inquiry commission’s report has been made public,” he added.

Speaker Asad Qaiser announced that treasury and opposition members would hold a meeting before Monday’s session to decide which of the issues would be debated in the house.

During the proceedings the house expressed sorrow and grief on the passing of Mr Aurakzai. Many members praised the services rendered to the nation by the late MNA from tribal areas.

Mr Aurakzai was tested positive when he came to the house to attend its session held last month. However, he later produced a report from a private clinic that had cleared him.

After he was allowed to rejoin the session on the basis of the new report, he fell down in the assembly hall and was taken outside by some colleagues.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of non-adherence to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for prevention of spread of coronavirus, the Supreme Court has barred entry into the court premises of people wearing no face mask or bypassing temperature and symptoms checking and not passing through the disinfectant tunnel.

A notification issued by the Supreme Court on Friday and was enforced immediately ordered that face mask would be worn during the entire time any individual was within the court premises.

The notification said it had been noticed that the preventive measures for minimising spread of Covid-19 were not being fully observed by staff members of the Supreme Court, employees of other offices located in the court building and general public, visitors and litigants.

Therefore, the notification said, the competent authority had taken notice of this trend and ordered that wearing of face mask and getting checked for fever/temperature was mandatory for all persons on entering the premises of the apex court at the principal seat of Islamabad and branch registries at Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.

On Monday last, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had also taken notice of violation of social distancing in the Supreme Court.

Heading a five-judge bench, the chief justice had asked during a case hearing why the courtroom was jam-packed. “What happened to the formula of social distancing? Who are you and why are you sitting here,” he asked while pointing at the lawyers, media persons and litigants/people present in the courtroom.

“I don’t want something to happen in this court. You should care about social distancing and take precautionary measures,” the chief justice had said.

All judges are wearing face masks according the SOPs issued by the government as part of the precautionary measures against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Cynthia D. Ritchie, a Pakistan-based blogger from the United States, has accused senior Pakistan Peoples Party leaders of molesting her in 2011, a week after the opposition party filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing against her for hateful comment and slander agai­nst slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

In a video message posted on Facebook, Richie alleged that she had been raped some nine years ago by then interior minister Rehman Malik and was physically manhandled by then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as well as then federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin.

She said she also filed a complaint with the FIA as she continued to receive threats to her life. She said she was in direct contact with the FIA director general [Wajid Zia].

Claims to be in direct contact with FIA DG, after tweeting against Benazir

She said she had numerous voice recordings, text messages and screenshots, including from those who claimed to be PPP supporters from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Referring to her ongoing battle with the PPP, she said it was not really about that tweet but about the individuals who know she had lot of dirt on a lot of people in this country. “It is primarily those who use and abuse others particularly women and vulnerable population. And I am one of them.”

Talking to a private news channel, ex-PM Gilani denied the charges and said he considered even responding to such allegations “humiliation and disgrace”.

The former prime minister questioned as to what the US citizen had been doing at the Presidency. She had come to Pakistan as part of a campaign to malign politicians, he alleged.

Mr Gilani said that those levelling allegation against a person of his stature should be ashamed of themselves. “Who has given them the right to malign the politicians?” he asked. He said the woman was maligning him, as his two sons had filed a defamation case against her for her defamatory tweet against Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.

Mr Gilani said the reaction of the PPP to her tweet was “severe and uncontrollable”.

Rehman Malik was not available for comments.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: After de-notifying more than 6,000 publications across the country recently, the press registrar of the information ministry has written letters to the provinces to stop functioning of all unregistered publications, printing presses and news agencies.

At the same time, titles of all publications — annual, bi-annual, monthlies, weeklies, fortnightlies, dailies, etc — which have not published after receiving the NOCs, too, have been cancelled.

A ministry official told Dawn that there was a general trend in the country that people obtained title of any publication and held it either for selling it later or for any other purpose.

“Now all publications not being printed have been cancelled,” the official said.

Deputy commissioners directed to seal premises of printing presses, news agencies

Apart from owners of publications, printing presses and news agencies, the press registrar has also written letters to all chief secretaries of provincial governments, all commissioners and deputy commissioners and the officials concerned of Islamabad (ICT), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan to ensure compliance with the directive.

The press registrar, Naila Maqsood, has directed all the deputy commissioners to seal premises of unregistered printing presses, publications and news agencies.

These included all printing presses even if they were printing any other material like Eid, wedding or other cards, etc.

Currently, only 23 requests for registration have been received at the information ministry from printing presses across the country.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the interior ministry said that the directives could only be implemented at printing presses operating in markets.

“The main purpose of this initiative was to streamline informal publications such as pamphlets and other unverified materials containing blasphemous, sectarian, jihadi or anti-state content, etc,” the official said.

“But we have some printing presses in unusual locations, like Jamia Hafsa in G-7, Islamabad, where various lectures and thoughts of Maulana Abdul Aziz over various subjects are printed and sealing of that printing press will not be easy,” the official said.

Under the Press, Newspaper, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002, the subject has not been devolved to the provinces and the federal law in this regard still applies across the country.

Under the law, all printing presses across the country have to obtain a declaration from relevant deputy commissioners and based on that declaration a certificate will be issued by the office of Press Registrar.

“Now all printing presses not having this certificate will be sealed by relevant deputy commissioners,” said the official of the information ministry.

On the other hand, the online registration system has yet to become operational and sources in the information ministry said that they had received complaints from several parts of the country in this regard.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: With the National Coordination and Operation Centre (NCOC) bringing over 15,450 hospitals online to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakis­tan on Friday witnessed its single-day death toll crossing the 100 mark with the number of cases in the last 24 hours also surging past 5,000, taking the total number of infections to 91,365.

Moreover, according to information gathered by the NCOC from all the provinces, a total of 1,311 markets and 83 industries were sealed and 2,221 vehicles imp­ounded across the country on Friday over violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Smart lockdown was imposed in 848 areas with a total population of 269,800 people.

With the 15,459 hospitals brought online, the NCOC has obtained the entire strength and capacity of each and every hospital as the inventory of all these hospitals is shared with the NCOC on a daily basis. The relevant medical superintendents have access to the online facility so that they can change their hospitals’ inventory as and when necessary.

NCOC brings over 15,450 hospitals online, launches app to provide information about ventilators availability; PM urges adherence to precautionary measures

Chief secretaries of the provinces and of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir briefed a meeting presided over by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who is heading the NCOC, on actions taken for SOPs compliance and smart lockdowns implemented in the areas with maximum Covid-19 cases.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza updated the forum about ‘We Care’ campaign for protection of frontline healthcare workers fighting the Covid-19 pandemic across the country. Overall 20,000 frontline health workers were trained in two months through videos, PPE (personal protective equipment) guidelines and provisional course.

Speaking on the occasion, Asad Umar stressed the need for continuing to hammer SOPs compliance in the masses and said the positive outcome of enforcement should also be projected at the forum and in the media.

The minister said the government had a two-pronged strategy — focusing on disease spread control and upgrading the healthcare system with effective deployment.

Pak Nigahban app

The NCOC, which was established a couple of months ago to oversee, coordinate and channelise the country’s resources to overcome the Covid-19 crisis, on Friday launched an app called Pak Nigahban to provide information to the public about hospitals and the availability of ventilators. This will help avoid burden on major hospitals.

According to a press release, 1,110 hospitals across the country have been linked with the app. The app will be instrumental in providing care in emergency situations and can be downloaded from Google Play Store. A link has also been given on the government’s Covid-19 website, covid.gov.pk, to download it.

The app has been launched as part of the NCOC’s Resource Management System (RMS) to ensure optimum utilisation of healthcare facilities against Covid-19.

The RMS system allows the provinces to review the facilities available within the hospitals in their respective areas. Under this system, 15,459 hospitals across the country have been linked. This will enable the provinces to review the facilities available in the hospitals falling under their precincts, the press release said.

The NCOC also launched a WhatsApp 1166 emergency service where doctors and health workers can register their complaints and other relevant information.

According to the NCOC, presently 1,400 ventilators were available in the country and the number of patients on them are said to be 306. During last couple of months, the NCOC managed to get ready the country’s health system to meet challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and improved testing capacity from 400 in March to 30,000 till date.

The government has also acted promptly to handle the situation and injected Rs50 billion into the health sector, besides giving Rs144bn to the poor and daily wage earners under the Ehsaas cash distribution programme.

A training programme for doctors and health workers called “We Care” was also launched to impart training to 100,000 doctors and health practitioners and so far 20,000 of them have been trained.

Meanwhile, the country has become self-sufficient in masks, PPE, sanitisers through indigenous production by local firms.

A system is also being devised to revive all basic health units (BHUs) and network of dispensaries both in rural and urban localities.

PM urges SOPs adherence

Prime Minister Imran Khan said the country could still avert tough times in its anti-coronavirus fight if people followed the SOPs for which the role of Corona Relief Tiger Force in creating awareness and enforcement was important, adds APP.

“Even now, if the people are made to take precautions and follow SOPs, I am sure we will not have to go through tough times other countries are going through,” the prime minister said while addressing the volunteers of Corona Relief Tigers Force to apprise them of their future role, particularly in enforcement of the anti-virus SOPs as well as relief services in areas under lockdown.

PM Khan said Allah Almighty had showered His great blessing on Pakistan by protecting it against the much-apprehended bad times for which he lauded the role of the people as well as his team in assessing the situation and making right decisions.

He said only Pakistan and the United Kingdom had realised the necessity of the volunteers force. Around 35,000 volunteers turned up to work in Italy and 60,000 in the UK, but in Pakistan, over one million had registered and about 175,000 came to work which showed a great passion among the Pakistani people.

The prime minister said the government would need the Tiger Force’s support to apprise the people of the importance of SOPs at shops and in markets and industries, which were opened subject to adherence to certain conditions.

He said Pakistan was the only Muslim country that allowed Taraweeh congregations during the holy month of Ramazan and due ulema’s cooperation the country had not seen any outbreak from mosques. In that regard, he added, the Tigers Force volunteers also played a positive role by visiting the mosques and making the people follow the guidelines.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday rejected an option of imposing another lockdown in the country.

Speaking at a media briefing, he said the country could not afford to go back to lockdown and urged people to follow the government’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) for curbing the spread of deadly coronavirus.

The prime minister said the government was preparing the budget for financial year 2020-21 in a way to generate more revenue and cut expenses as a shortfall of Rs800 billion in total tax collection had already been witnessed due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Says government preparing next budget in a way to generate more revenue and cut expenses

Endorsing his decision not to impose another lockdown, Mr Khan said that the countries still witnessing an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases were compelled to lift lockdowns. “What these countries had gained from strict lockdown? Their people lost jobs, poverty increased while cases of coronavirus continued to increase there,” he added.

The prime minister said lockdowns had created havoc in the whole world as the nations which were giving loans had themselves come under debts. “We were already facing financial crunch due to huge burden of debts taken by the previous regime and since we came to power we have retired Rs5000 billion as interest on foreign loans,” he said, adding that his government had paid half of the tax collected last year in debt retirement and half of the money was left to run the country.

Talking about the forthcoming federal budget, which is likely to be announced on June 12, the prime minister said the government had to cut its expanses and increase income to combat the coronavirus situation. However, he said the government would impose smart lockdown where required and for which Corona Relief Tiger Force would be used to provide assistance to the people.

“It is important for you [Tiger Force volunteers] to ensure that people follow SOPs because we can’t go back to another lockdown as the country can’t afford it,” he said, adding that if curve of Covid-19 was slowed down by following SOPs, it would reduce pressure on hospitals.

He said the country was already emerging from a difficult situation before the pandemic hit, adding that Rs50 billion was given to the utility stores as subsidy and Rs144bn distributed among the poor under the Ehsaas programme. “How much more money can Ehsaas give? That is why it’s important for the people to ensure the implementation of SOPs.”

The prime minister said the government had reopened industries to provide jobs and work opportunities to daily wage earners. “The purpose of reopening industries was to help the vulnerable. A lockdown for [the privileged] is not a problem, but it is a problem for the working class,” he added.

He said the main objective of the Tiger Force was to create awareness among the masses. “In Pakistan we have 1,700 deaths, we knew corona would spread. We have to understand corona is a virus that spreads when people gather so that is why we need to maintain social distancing. I will give you instructions every day. We will regularly give instructions on what you need to do, what the hotspots are [and] we will guide you,” he said.

“The virus will spread, you can’t stop that. You can lock people up in their rooms and that will slow the spread but this will not end it,” he added.

The prime minister said none of the country’s coronavirus cases was traced back to mosques, despite the government’s critics stating otherwise. “The government’s critics said that the virus will spread from mosques but no cases emerge from there and today the world is opening mosques with standard operating procedures in place,” he added.

He said the transport service was shut down due to the lockdown and food prices skyrocketed as a result. However, he said the government kept up supply to utility stores and got some very good feedback from the Tiger Force volunteers. He urged the volunteers to identify hoarders and inform the district administration to protect people and help the poor.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The first case of polio during high transmission season has been reported due to which tally for the current year has reached 50.

According to an official of the National Institute of Health (NIH), who requested anonymity, the child belongs to Balochistan.

“A 17-month-old female child, resident of Kila Abdullah district, Chaman tehsil, Sirki Taleri union council, has become the fresh victim. The child’s lower limb has been paralysed and the socioeconomic status of child is declared poor,” he said.

The official said the child did not receive even a single dose of oral polio vaccine during the last six supplementary immunisation activities [polio campaigns] due to which she easily fell prey to the crippling virus.

Child from poor background received no dose of vaccine during six campaigns

“Unfortunately, due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), the polio campaigns have been severely affected and it is feared that the number of polio cases can increase in the coming months as high transmission season has started,” he said.

It is worth mentioning that poliovirus remains less active in the low transmission season from September to May because of low temperatures. However, it becomes more active from June to August, which is when more children can be affected. That is why even polio campaigns are halted during high transmission period.

According to the data of the current year, as many as 20 cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17 from Sindh, 11 from Balochistan and two cases from Punjab.

In 2019, as many as 146 cases of the crippling disease were reported as compared to 12 cases in 2018 and only eight cases in 2007.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system, and can cause paralysis or even death.

While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, his/her protection against the virus is increased. Repeated immunisations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio free.

However, there are only two countries in the world — Pakistan and Afghanistan — where polio cases are still being reported.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The high-powered selection board on Friday considered senior civil servants of different cadres and approved promotion of some bureaucrats, including Federal Investigation Agency Director General Wajid Zia and former Sindh police chief Kaleem Imam, in BS-22, sources said.

The selection board, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, also comprised PM’s Adviser on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, Special Assistant Dr Shahzad Arbab, secretaries of establishment division, cabinet division and other senior bureaucrats.

However, a formal notification of the promotions had not been issued till Friday evening.

Most of the officers whose promotion was approved belonged to the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), formerly known as District Management Group, as there were 43 eligible PAS officers of BS-21, sources told Dawn.

PM chaired the selection board

The PAS officers promoted to the top grade are Balochistan Chief Secretary Fazeel Asghar, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Matahir Niaz Rana, Secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan Dr Nazir Akhtar, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Secretary Mohammad Sualeh Faruqui, former health secretary Dr Tanvir A. Qureshi, who has been awaiting posting, Mohammad Mushtaq Chandna, Khaqan Bahadur, Munir Azam and Dr Ismat Tahira.

The sources said that incumbent FIA DG Wajid Zia of the Police Service of Pakistan and former Sindh IG Kaleem Imam were also promoted to BS-22.

The senior most officer of Military Land and Cantonment (MLC) cadre Masood Chaudhry was also promoted to the top grade, the sources said, adding that he was the third MLC officer promoted to BS-22 since a post of this cadre had been created in 2014.

Commerce and Trade Group officer Dr Yousaf Khan, who is currently working as commercial consular in Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, was also promoted to BS-22.

The sources said that the board also promoted four officers of Pakistan Foreign Service, three Pakistan Audit and Accounts Group, two Income Tax Group officers, one officer from Customs and Pakistan Postal groups each.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

WANA: The Ahmadzai Wazir tribe has again convened a jirga to raise an armed Lashkar on Saturday (today) to go ahead with an earlier decision to demolish the house of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ayaz Wazir.

The tribal jirga held a session at Kiri Kot in South Waziristan district on Friday and decided that 1,200-strong Lashkar would proceed to the house of Mr Wazir and raze it.

Before marching on the house of Mr Wazir, tribal elders would meet to take final decisions about the Lashkar’s raid. The Lashkar will be accompanied by drum beaters.

Presently, tension is running high in the area.

The ANP has already announced that it will lodge an FIR against the elders of Ahmadzai Wazir tribe for instigating people against the party leader and raising a Lashkar to demolish his house.

Earlier, local ulema and Mr Wazir’s clan had presented four rams to the jirga as repentance (Nanawatay) but the jirga turned down the offer.

Speaking at Friday’s jirga, tribal elder Malik Jameel said that Mr Wazir had spoken at a jirga with the district administration on Thursday without taking the tribal elders into confidence, which had resulted in commotion and the jirga was marred by hooliganism.

Later, he said, the tribal elders had taken a collective decision to punish Mr Wazir for foiling the jirga which was held to restore peace in the area. He said that the jirga elders had decided that the house of Mr Wazir would be demolished. Beside, the jirga had also slapped a fine of Rs1 million on Mr Wazir.

On the other hand, the district administration and the police are making efforts to restrict the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe from implementing the jirga decision to demolish Mr Wazir’s house.

The district police officer has made it clear to the Ahmadzai Wazirs that, if implemented, the jirga decision would be considered as taking the law into their hands.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has applied an “across-the-board cut” in the salaries of its officers and pilots, with exception to the lowest and non-officer cadre.

The move irked the Pakistan Airlines Pilots Associations (Palpa) which termed it “unjustified” and against the government’s directives that no salary deduction would take place.

A spokesperson for the PIA said that the aviation industry was in turmoil and people were losing jobs while working for world’s most profitable airlines because of the coronavirus crisis.

“PIA’s flight operations have restricted to 10 per cent its regular operations due to Covid-19 — from 110 departures a day to hardly 10 departures. We have to cut on a lot of expenses barely to stay afloat. Salary cut has been across the board with exception to the lowest and non-officer cadre,” he added.

According to the schedule of pay cuts, 10pc on salary between Rs100,000-200,000; 15pc on salary between Rs200,000-300,000; 20pc on salary between Rs300,000-500,000 and 25pc on salary above Rs500,000.

“It’s a tough decision but there is no other way. It’s temporary till [normal] operations resume. All other cadres have accepted it,” the PIA spokesperson claimed.

However, Palpa believed that this was a “sort of a punishment for raising our voice regarding the unacceptable safety precautions taken when the Covid special flights were initiated on April 4”.

“Without any notification up to 25-30pc cuts in gross salaries of the pilots of the national airline is unjustified and will lower the morale of the community, which is already under pressure due to stressful working conditions which can potentially compromise flight safety,” said a Palpa spokesperson on Friday.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

KARACHI: French investigators probing the May 22 Pakistan Intern­ational Airlines (PIA) plane crash have anno­unced that downloading and decoding of the black box of the ill-fated aircraft has been completed.

The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) on Friday said in a tweet that downloading and decoding of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the two components of the PK-8303 black box, “has ended. Analysis will continue”.

It said that the Paki­stan’s Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board (AAIB) “will publish at a later date a preliminary statement on the event based on downloaded data/ Pakistan’s AAIB is leading the investigation/current communication on their behalf”.

Aviation Minister Ghu­l­am Sarwar Khan had already announced that the preliminary report of the plane crash would be tabled in parliament on June 22.

Ninety-seven of the 99 passengers and crew members onboard the PIA flight were killed when the plane crashed into houses in Karachi’s Model Colony area on May 22. A teenage girl also lost her life on ground.

Airbus, being the manufacturer of the A320 aircraft had sent an 11-member team to Pakistan to offer technical assistance to AAIB investigators. The team had earlier this week left for France along with the FDR and CVR of the aircraft. AAIB President Air Commodore Usman Ghani also accompanied the French team.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

QUETTA: The Balochistan government has warned people and the business community that a three-day complete lockdown would be imposed across the province if they continued to violate SOPs and other instructions issued in connection with Covid-19.

Balochistan government spokesman Liaquat Shahwani told a press conference on Friday that a large number of traders and people were not observing SOPs and this was leading to increase in coronavirus cases with each passing day across the province.

“The government is now seriously considering to impose a strict lockdown for three days in Quetta and other areas of the province in view of non-serious attitude of the masses and members of the business community,” Mr Shahwani said.

He expressed concern over rising cases of coronavirus among women and said that 24 per cent women in Balochistan had tested positive for coronavirus and the number was increasing with each passing day.

He said though the cases of coronavirus had reached over 5,500 in the province, a large number of people had also recovered from the disease and that was a very positive sign.

He said in Balochistan condition of only 16 patients was serious and only one patient was on the ventilator.

Mr Shahwani said that treatment of Covid-19 patients with plasma of recovered patients had also started in Balochistan.

“One serious patient of Covid-19 fully recovered after he was administered plasma of a recovered patient in Quetta,” the spokesman said, adding that people recovering from the deadly virus were donating their plasma.

In reply to a question about locust swarms invading the provincial agriculture land, the spokesman said that 32 districts of the province were under the invasion of locusts and the provincial government had been carrying out sprays in several districts to protect corps from being ruined.

In reply to a question about Private School Associations’ announcement to open schools, Mr Shahwani said the government would take tough action against private schools violating the government’s smart lockdown.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

KARACHI: The federal government’s decision to terminate services of thousands of employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) has drawn strong criticism from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Pak Sarzameen Party. Both parties have demanded its immediate withdrawal.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved on Wednesday retrenchment of all the 9,350 PSM employees with a one-time severance cost of about Rs20 billion in the name of “human resource rationalisation plan”.

However, the MQM-P, which is a key coalition partner of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government, and PSP were not in agreement with the so-called human resource rationalisation plan as they wanted the government to revive the ailing PSM with the existing workforce instead of snatching livelihoods of thousands of workers.

In a statement, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui condemned the government’s decision and said that the present government had promised to protect jobs of PSM employees but instead of keeping its promise it was going to sack them in the name of an economic package.

He said the MQM-P had time and again demanded of the prime minister and Sindh governor that meaningful steps be taken to revive the PSM.

He demanded that the government withdraw its decision to terminate the services of over 9,000 employees and provide them complete job security.

On the other hand, PSP chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal has called the government plan “forced dismissal of 9,350 employees” in the name of so-called “golden handshake”.

Terming it “economic murder of thousands of employees and a clear enmity towards Karachi”, Mr Kamal said that the entire election campaign of the PTI was focused on strengthening state institutions, eliminating debts and reviving economy but now it appeared to be taking steps towards privatisation of these institutions.

“Before assuming office, Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised the PSM employees that as soon as he becomes premier, outstanding dues of all employees will be paid, but unfortunately the PM once again took a U-turn on his own promises,” he told a delegation of PSM workers who called on him at the PSP headquarters.

He demanded immediate payment of all legitimate dues of PSM employees and immediate reversal of the decision of dismissal of thousands of employees.

Meanwhile, disgruntled MQM leader and chief of his Organisational Restoration Committee Dr Farooq Sattar called upon PM Imran Khan and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail to take back the decision and said the government should work for the revival of state-owned institutions.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020

The conflict between the PPP and Pakistan-based American blogger Cynthia D. Ritchie intensified on Friday after the latter came out with allegations of rape and assault against some top PPP leaders.

Ritchie, who was at the centre of a controversy last week when she tweeted what the PPP described as "derogatory and slanderous remarks" about slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, accused former interior minister Senator Rehman Malik of having raped her in Islamabad in 2011.

"In 2011, I was raped by the former interior minister Rehman Malik. That's right, I'll say it again. I was raped by the then interior minister Rehman Malik," she said a live video on her Facebook page, also accusing former federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of "physically manhandling" her while Gilani was staying at the "President's House".

Ritchie said she was reserving "some of the more graphic details" because her audience could include children, but added that she would be "happy to go into more detail" with neutral investigative journalists.

Both Malik and Gilani have denied the allegations in separate statements.

The blogger has nearly 220,000 followers on Twitter and a hashtag championing her as a "pride of Pakistan" (#CynthiaIsPrideOfPakistan) was the top trend on Friday evening.

In a tweet before going live on Facebook, the American alleged members of "#ZardarisFilthyPPP" were threatening her because "they know that over the years I have been raped/assaulted by men in the highest ranks of PPP. They don't want the world to know."

In another post after her allegations, she said the alleged assault took place at Malik's house in the Ministers' Enclave around the time of the raid in which Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed. "I thought it [was] a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers/a drugged drink," she wrote, adding claiming she "kept quiet" thinking no one in the then PPP government would help her.

"Recently they (PPP members) attacked family; I've had it. Ready to face any accuser," she said, adding that she is now engaged to a man whom she met in Pakistan, and it was him who encouraged her "to speak out, so we can move on as a couple".

In her video, Ritchie alleged that she has endured harassment "primarily from the PPP" for a number of years now. "I have received countless threats against my life, rape threats, claims that PPP has my father," she claimed, adding that she has "evidentiary support" of everything she has been posting.

Ritchie also said she had informed about the incident to "someone" at the US Embassy in 2011, "but due to 'fluid' situation and 'complex' relations between US and Pakistan, [the] response was less than adequate".

Dawn has reached out to the embassy to verify the veracity of her statement.

Last week, the PPP had filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing against Ritchie for posting on her Twitter account what it described as derogatory and slanderous remarks about Benazir Bhutto. The complaint was filed by PPP’s district president in Islamabad Advocate Shakeel Abbasi.

'You haven't seen nothing yet'

Detailing her time in Pakistan, Ritchie said she has been "in and out" of the country since 2009. "I shifted here end of 2010 and I was invited here by the PPP when [Asif Ali] Zardari was president, PM Gilani, interior minister Rehman Malik and the federal minister at the time Makhdoom Shahabuddin.

"Initially things were quite pleasant. I was very well-facilitated; I had no idea of the political battle that was taking place or had been taking place between PTI, PPP, PML-N etc.," she said.

She continued: "Because I had been assisting [the] PTI gratis, on my own time, with their social media strategies back in late 2010-2011, I learnt eventually that PPP was trying to draw me away from PTI."

"PPP, you've attacked me for too long," the blogger said while addressing the party leadership. "You've created false accounts trying to research my family, getting information from my sisters who naively had no idea who they were talking to and then leaking deeply personal family information on Twitter.

"You think I don't have contacts in the United States, you think I don't have contacts here or elsewhere to be able to track and trace what you were doing. For those who've called me a bitch because I have dared to stand up to you, you haven't seen nothing yet," she concluded.

Gilani denies 'filthy' allegations

Former premier Gilani not only denied the charges levelled by Ritchie, but said that he even considered responding to such allegations "humiliation and disgrace".

Talking to ARY News, he questioned as to what Richie was doing at the Presidency when she was allegedly manhandled, and why she had been staying in Pakistan. He alleged that she had come to Pakistan as part of a campaign to malign politicians.

"Who has given them the right to malign politicians?" he asked.

Gilani said those raising such allegations "should be ashamed" and asked whether a person of the prime minister's stature could do such an act at the Presidency.

The former prime minister claimed that Ritchie was maligning him because his two sons had filed a defamation case against her for her allegedly defamatory tweet against Bhutto.

Meanwhile, Gilani's son Ali Haider Gilani in a series of tweets defended his father as a "man of great integrity" and questioned why Ritchie was making the "filthy" allegations after eight years.

Malik denies allegations, says he 'respects Ritchie as a woman'

Senator Rehman Malik on Saturday endorsed Gilani's statement of denial and a spokesperson for the senator said that "he [Malik] does not want to respond directly, but denies the allegations".

"The allegations are untruthful and have been made to harm Senator Rehman Malik's reputation.

"The American woman has made the allegations at the behest of a specific person or group."

He further said that as Malik "respects Ritchie and all women, he would not respond to the allegations with any foul words."

According to the spokesperson, Malik has always "raised a voice for the rights and honour of women and he will continue to do so."

The spokesperson pointed out that the allegations have come at a time when "Malik, as the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, took notice of Ritchie's tweet against Shaheed Mauhtarma Benazir Bhutto."

He said Malik's sons have independently contacted their lawyers to see what legal action can be taken against Ritchie.

With hospitals overwhelmed and a sharp rise in the number of deaths, Pakistan's delicate health system is bracing for an imminent peak of novel coronavirus cases.

Numbers here have already surpassed China's, the origin of the virus.

Government officials claim the situation is "under control," but health authorities believe the already stretched health system is unable to handle the lurking influx of Covid-19 patients.

In the country's two most populous cities of Karachi and Lahore, hospitals are already struggling because of a sharp increase in Covid-19 patients in recent weeks.

Some major private hospitals are turning away patients because of a shortage of beds.

"Most of the hospital beds have already been taken by patients, limiting our ability to handle the influx of Covid-19 cases, mainly in the big cities," Dr Faiyaz Alam, an office-bearer of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), a nationwide body of medical professionals, told Anadolu Agency.

Hospitals running short of beds

In Karachi, home to more than 15 million people, and one of the worst-hit cities in the country, 15 government, private and charitable hospitals are dealing with coronavirus patients.

The number of ventilators in those hospitals, according to official figures, are 136.

Just 539 beds and 200 ventilators are available for coronavirus patients in Lahore, according to Punjab's health minister, Yasmeen Rashid.

Punjab and Sindh, which make up more than 71,000 of the country's 95,458 cases, have slightly more than 14,000 beds for coronavirus patients at state-run and private hospitals.

"Dozens of [Covid-19] patients are contacting us on a daily basis seeking admission to the hospitals. But we cannot help them as the hospitals are already running short of beds, both in general wards and the ICUs [intensive care units]," said Alam.

"If the number of cases continue to surge at the current pace, I am afraid hospitals across the country will not be able to handle the situation," he added.

Dr Muhammad Shamvil Ashraf, an official of the Indus Hospital in Karachi, confirmed his facility was already running at "peak capacity".

"The number of patients are growing way higher than the number of beds. Sometimes, we do not have space to keep the patients in the emergency [ward]," he said. "At this stage, my only advice is follow the safety guidelines because if the numbers continue to grow like this, we won't be able to handle them."

Worst is yet to come

The country's Covid-19 tally has reached 95,458 with 1,954 deaths, landing it at the 17th spot worldwide in terms of coronavirus cases.

Pakistan is the worst hit country by the pandemic in the region after India.

Apart from several parliamentarians, dozens of doctors and paramedics have died of the coronavirus.

But doctors, who have been opposing the lifting of a prolonged lockdown, fear the worst is about to come.

"June and July are very crucial as we expect a sharp rise in already fast-increasing coronavirus cases in the country," according to Qaisar Sajjad, secretary-general of Pakistan Medical Association.

"I don't foresee good days ahead vis-a-vis coronavirus cases. They are going to shoot up in coming weeks," he said, cautioning that the country's already fragile health system might collapse following the expected rise in Covid-19 cases.

In addition to choking health facilities, the shortage of trained medical staff is adding to the worsening situation, Sajjad observed.

"Over 2,200 doctors, nurses, and technicians have already gone into self-isolation after getting infected by the virus across the country. Young doctors with no required experience are being pitched to handle ICUs, and ventilators in several hospitals to bridge this gap, which is not good at all," he said.

Salman Haseeb, president of Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab, echoed Sajjad’s views.

"We are expecting a spike in numbers of patients in mid-June, there is a chance where we have to choose between saving the life of a patient or a doctor," he said.

Mobile units

The government recently launched a mobile application that provides information about the availability of ventilators in hospitals.

Dr Asad Aslam, a member of the Punjab Corona Experts Advisory Group, said the government is increasing the number of beds and ventilators in state-run hospitals following a possible spike in Covid-19 cases.

"With the increment in numbers of patients, we are increasing the ventilator capacity.

“We have reserved 200 ventilators for critical patients in Lahore alone and will add 100 more by June 30," Aslam, who is also the head of state-run Mayo Hospital Lahore, told Anadolu Agency.

"At present, we are not facing any disturbing situation vis-a-vis availability of beds or ventilators for the patients," he claimed.

A Sindh government spokesman said that the current ventilator occupancy in the province stands at 49 per cent. But Haseeb, the head of the YDA contested that claim.

"The government is fabricating the numbers. Yesterday, a senior anesthetist at Services Hospital [Lahore] died as he could not get a ventilator," he said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, who effectively acts as health minister, could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Alam suggested the formation of mobile health units to fight the raging pandemic.

"Hospitals have no more capacity to admit Covid-19 patients. The only option left is to treat them in their homes with the help of mobile health units," he said.

With hospitals overwhelmed and a sharp rise in the number of deaths, Pakistan's delicate health system is bracing for an imminent peak of novel coronavirus cases.

Numbers here have already surpassed China's, the origin of the virus.

Government officials claim the situation is "under control," but health authorities believe the already stretched health system is unable to handle the lurking influx of Covid-19 patients.

In the country's two most populous cities of Karachi and Lahore, hospitals are already struggling because of a sharp increase in Covid-19 patients in recent weeks.

Some major private hospitals are turning away patients because of a shortage of beds.

"Most of the hospital beds have already been taken by patients, limiting our ability to handle the influx of Covid-19 cases, mainly in the big cities," Dr Faiyaz Alam, an office-bearer of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), a nationwide body of medical professionals, told Anadolu Agency.

Hospitals running short of beds

In Karachi, home to more than 15 million people, and one of the worst-hit cities in the country, 15 government, private and charitable hospitals are dealing with coronavirus patients.

The number of ventilators in those hospitals, according to official figures, are 136.

Just 539 beds and 200 ventilators are available for coronavirus patients in Lahore, according to Punjab's health minister, Yasmeen Rashid.

Punjab and Sindh, which make up more than 71,000 of the country's 95,458 cases, have slightly more than 14,000 beds for coronavirus patients at state-run and private hospitals.

"Dozens of [Covid-19] patients are contacting us on a daily basis seeking admission to the hospitals. But we cannot help them as the hospitals are already running short of beds, both in general wards and the ICUs [intensive care units]," said Alam.

"If the number of cases continue to surge at the current pace, I am afraid hospitals across the country will not be able to handle the situation," he added.

Dr Muhammad Shamvil Ashraf, an official of the Indus Hospital in Karachi, confirmed his facility was already running at "peak capacity".

"The number of patients are growing way higher than the number of beds. Sometimes, we do not have space to keep the patients in the emergency [ward]," he said. "At this stage, my only advice is follow the safety guidelines because if the numbers continue to grow like this, we won't be able to handle them."

Worst is yet to come

The country's Covid-19 tally has reached 95,458 with 1,954 deaths, landing it at the 17th spot worldwide in terms of coronavirus cases.

Pakistan is the worst hit country by the pandemic in the region after India.

Apart from several parliamentarians, dozens of doctors and paramedics have died of the coronavirus.

But doctors, who have been opposing the lifting of a prolonged lockdown, fear the worst is about to come.

"June and July are very crucial as we expect a sharp rise in already fast-increasing coronavirus cases in the country," according to Qaisar Sajjad, secretary-general of Pakistan Medical Association.

"I don't foresee good days ahead vis-a-vis coronavirus cases. They are going to shoot up in coming weeks," he said, cautioning that the country's already fragile health system might collapse following the expected rise in Covid-19 cases.

In addition to choking health facilities, the shortage of trained medical staff is adding to the worsening situation, Sajjad observed.

"Over 2,200 doctors, nurses, and technicians have already gone into self-isolation after getting infected by the virus across the country. Young doctors with no required experience are being pitched to handle ICUs, and ventilators in several hospitals to bridge this gap, which is not good at all," he said.

Salman Haseeb, president of Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab, echoed Sajjad’s views.

"We are expecting a spike in numbers of patients in mid-June, there is a chance where we have to choose between saving the life of a patient or a doctor," he said.

Mobile units

The government recently launched a mobile application that provides information about the availability of ventilators in hospitals.

Dr Asad Aslam, a member of the Punjab Corona Experts Advisory Group, said the government is increasing the number of beds and ventilators in state-run hospitals following a possible spike in Covid-19 cases.

"With the increment in numbers of patients, we are increasing the ventilator capacity.

“We have reserved 200 ventilators for critical patients in Lahore alone and will add 100 more by June 30," Aslam, who is also the head of state-run Mayo Hospital Lahore, told Anadolu Agency.

"At present, we are not facing any disturbing situation vis-a-vis availability of beds or ventilators for the patients," he claimed.

A Sindh government spokesman said that the current ventilator occupancy in the province stands at 49 per cent. But Haseeb, the head of the YDA contested that claim.

"The government is fabricating the numbers. Yesterday, a senior anesthetist at Services Hospital [Lahore] died as he could not get a ventilator," he said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, who effectively acts as health minister, could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Alam suggested the formation of mobile health units to fight the raging pandemic.

"Hospitals have no more capacity to admit Covid-19 patients. The only option left is to treat them in their homes with the help of mobile health units," he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday once again defended his government's decision to end the coronavirus lockdown in the country, saying such sweeping restrictions could cause a "collapse of the economy" and give rise to poverty in poor countries.

Taking to Twitter, he said the world has discovered through experience that the only solution to the Covid-19 crisis is imposing a "smart lockdown" that allows economic activity to continue while implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs).

"We are amongst [the] pioneers of this approach," he said, referring to the smart lockdown strategy under which only virus hotspots are placed under lockdown.

Related: Lockdown: ‘Total’ to ‘smart’

The premier highlighted the "dilemma confronting our government" currently by sharing a news channel's video report in which numerous Pakistanis can be heard casting doubts on the gravity of the coronavirus spread and terming it an "international conspiracy".

"On the one hand we have the masses who are not taking the COVID19 pandemic seriously and on the other hand, understandably, we have our frontline doctors and health professionals, who are at great risk," he said while commenting on the video.

He said some of the country's "elite" wanted a lockdown to be imposed across the country but noted that these were people "who have the privilege of spacious homes and income unaffected by [the] fallout of lockdown".

"A lockdown means [a] collapse of the economy and in poorer countries a steep rise in poverty, crushing the poor as happened in Modi's lockdown in India," he added.

The prime minister's remarks come as Pakistan's delicate healthcare system braces for an imminent peak of coronavirus cases, with a sharp rise in the number of deaths and hospitals reporting being overwhelmed with increasing cases of infection.

More than 5,000 cases of the virus were reported from across the country on Saturday, the highest daily increase in the number of infections since the first case was confirmed on February 26.

In Karachi and Lahore, hospitals are already struggling because of a sharp increase in Covid-19 patients in recent weeks, with reports saying some major private hospitals are turning away patients because of a shortage of beds.

Prime Minister Imran in his tweets appealed to the civil society, media, ulema and his Corona Relief Tiger Force to "create awareness amongst the public of COVID19's severity and the need to strictly observe SOPs".

‘Herd immunity’

The government lifted the lockdown on May 9, about two weeks before Eidul Fitr. Transport and most businesses have re-opened but cinemas, theatres and schools remain closed.

There has been growing debate among experts globally on whether populous developing nations can afford comprehensive social distancing measures to contain the coronavirus while avoiding economic ruin.

Some officials have suggested “herd immunity” could contain the virus, a situation where enough people in a population have developed immunity to an infection to be able to effectively stop that disease from spreading.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned countries that have “lax measures” in place against counting on herd immunity to halt the spread of Covid-19.

Yet even those advocating rolling back strict lockdowns in developing nations are alarmed at the teeming crowds in Pakistan's streets, shopping malls and mosques, the ramping up of domestic flights, and the movement of millions of people for the Eid holiday.

“It's not about this dichotomy between complete lockdown and fully open,” Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, a professor of economics at Yale University, earlier told Reuters.

He said a smarter strategy would be to allow people out for core economic and public health activities, rather than a total relaxation of rules.

“There should still be complete bans on religious gatherings and social gatherings [...] those are things for which we need to see much better leadership,” he said.

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said the prime minister and his government had ‘sabotaged’ Sindh government efforts made to contain the coronavirus and undermined the lockdown policy through a ‘consistent campaign of misinformation’ only to save businesses, leaving the country to suffer massive losses on both fronts — health and economy.

The federal government, which continued to deny the importance of lockdown despite repeated demands of doctors all in the name of saving the livelihoods of poor people, had hastened to throw thousands of Pakistan Steel Mills employees out of job amid the pandemic, said Mr Bhutto-Zardari while addressing a press conference at the Sindh Assembly’s auditorium hall along with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and other members of his cabinet.

Terming the massive retrenchment amid pandemic “against human values”, the PPP chairman said the Sindh government with the consent of the provincial governor had done legislation to secure people’s employment at least during the Covid-19 crisis. He vowed to challenge the decision at every forum.

The federal government could not abdicate itself from its responsibilities by blaming Sindh for all its failures, right from the handling of coronavirus to the locust attacks that could trigger food crisis, he said. It was unfortunate that a barrage of accusations was levelled against the pilot for the PIA plane crash, which claimed nearly a hundred lives, he regretted. “It’s so unfortunate it has become our sick national pastime that we always blame the victims whenever we meet any tragedy or accident,” he said.

“I feel sorry how that the character assassination was made of that courageous and professional pilot. As the federal government decides to leave people alone in the coronavirus pandemic, it came up with the same strategy for the victims of PIA crash and their families. We as a nation and also the backers of this government now must think about that how long we can tolerate this incapable government.”

• Sees plot behind ‘consistent campaign of misinformation’ • Vows to challenge massive job cuts in Steel Mills

He said: “We believe that the lockdown could have been used more effectively and it did work initially but under a conspiracy it was undermined through consistent campaign of misinformation.”

Referring to the models of New Zealand, Vietnam and Indonesia, where the same strategy against the pandemic delivered the desired results, he said: “I specially mention Vietnam because it’s the country which has no larger resources. It’s not a superpower. They came out of the crisis through immediate action and unity. These countries are now opening their businesses and reviving economy. But we have lost that opportunity. Now we would be facing both crisis – economy and the pandemic.”

Mr Bhutto-Zardari also warned of the risks ahead and shared his strategy in the PPP-governed Sindh. “What we can do now is to save maximum number of lives,” he said. “We should have policy like a toolkit as the lockdown is one of the effective tools. We believe that it can still be used. Local and larger lockdowns are still the options. Now the key policy of the Sindh government is to enhance the testing capacity. We are already building capacity of our healthcare system without any help from the Centre on a war-footing basis.

“The federal government is trying to fool people while confusing them in a number game that such and such number of ventilators and ICUs are available. We know that every provincial capital has the capacity to some extent but that figures don’t reflect the state of whole province. That point can’t be obscured by the Centre,” he said.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said then raised question about the recently-constituted NFC and warned that such move would not only affect the country’s national unity and social fabric but also send a “wrong message at a wrong time” internationally when Pakistan was facing many regional challenges.

The PPP chairman said Prime Minister Imran Khan was “an indecisive man” who always failed to rise to the occasion whether it was making strategy about coronavirus pandemic or a matter of devising policy on the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

“When the NFC was formed the Sindh government sent a letter to Islamabad raising its objection and requesting to address the issue. But you can well assess the seriousness that our May 14 letter has not been responded yet. We have serious reservations that why you have made Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir part of this Commission? They are federal territories and that why we give so much fiscal space to the Centre so it can bear the financial responsibility of these areas.

“And what message you are sending internationally when we are under serious regional challenge? Are you telling the world that Azad Kashmir is our province? Does it not make rumours true that we have already made deals over [Indian-occupied] Kashmir? We need serious and wise on these very sensitive issues. Similarly, if you want Gilgit-Baltistan to be a part of this Commission then declare it as a province through defined rules and legislation.”

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government informed the Supreme Court on Saturday that the entire country was under a serious threat of locust invasion if the menace was not contained in the breeding regions of the country.

An area of 300,000 square kilometres, roughly 37 per cent of the country’s total area, is vulnerable to the desert locust. Sixty per cent of the land is in Balochistan, 25pc in Sindh and 15pc in Punjab’s Cholistan region.

Balochistan falls within an area known as a spring breeding zone while Punjab and Sindh are in the summer breeding zone, according to a report placed by the Punjab government before the Supreme Court.

The report was filed as part of a reply to a query on May 19 by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed about the food security situation in view of the locust invasion. The chief justice was hearing a case on steps taken by the government to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

The hearing will resume on Monday (tomorrow).

Punjab says 37pc of country’s total area vulnerable to menace

Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan had expressed fears that Pakistan was afflicted not only with a medical emergency of gigantic proportions but also an imminent locust threat. This posed a danger to food security.

The AG stated that a huge swarm of locusts was heading from Africa towards Pakistan.

Now a report submitted by Punjab’s Additional Advocate General Chaudhry Faisal Hussain on Saturday explained that three districts — Bhakkar, D.G. Khan and Mianwali — were under the locust threat.

Punjab highlighted the need for deployment of maximum resources in the summer breeding areas of the country.

It said the menace had hitherto been confined to Cholistan, but now the central and northern regions were in the crosshairs as well due to climate change and massive egg-laying.

The recent locust wave must have affected forest plants like Shareen, Kikkar, Bir as well as fodder, newly germinated cotton, corn leaves and citrus, the report feared.

During the damage survey, it added, 15 varieties of crops infested with desert locust were observed. The damaged crops, spread over 715 acres, included cotton, sesame and Moong.

According to the report, urgent arrangements were needed for obtaining 50 micron sprayers, five aeroplanes and the services of 50 entomologists to support surveillance and combat operations in Punjab.

But the immediate challenge in the coming weeks is the presence of locust in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

The report admitted that Bahawalpur division would be a major battlefield in summer as swarms would be coming from Sindh and Rajasthan.

Desert locust belongs to the grasshopper family Acrididae, which includes most of the short-horned grasshoppers. The desert locusts have up to five generations per year, a clear indication that their population damage is unimaginable.

They can destroy 10 per cent of the world’s food grain and cause a serious shortage. Even a swarm over one square kilometre can gobble up an amount of food grain in one day that can be sufficient for about 35,000 people.

Their migratory nature and capacity for rapid population growth present major challenges for control, particularly in remote semi-arid areas, which characterise much of the distribution area, Punjab explained.

Referring to the provincial government’s anti-locust strategy, the report stated that the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), in collaboration with the NDMA and other Punjab departments, had carried out a successful operation to combat the locust menace during the summer.

Already 84 surveillance teams were stationed at different places under the National Action Plan (NAP) to fight the danger. The second phase of operation has started in Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Vehari, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Khushab, Bhakkar, Mianwali and Attock.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2020