Jam Ikramullah Dharejo expresses concern over unavailability of petrol across the country

Karachi, June 08, 2020 (PPI-OT): Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Jam Ikramullah Dharejo has expressed his concern over the unavailability of petrol across the country and the rise in flour prices in Punjab. In a statement issued here on Monday, he said that on one hand the people were worried about the spread of the coronavirus while on the other hand, the prices of everyday items were on the rise and it has made the life of the common man a living hell.

He added, “Petrol prices in the world market are very low while petrol is being sold at high prices in Pakistan but it is unfortunate that petrol is not available at most petrol pumps across the country and people are not able to get petrol and they are forced to form long queues”.

Dharejo said that due to the flawed policy of the federal government, the number of coronavirus patients in the country has increased and despite the passage of one week, the federal government has not been able to restore the supply of petrol while the federal ministers concerned are busy in giving the statements only.

He said that on the one hand petrol was scarce and on the other hand due to an increase in flour prices in Punjab it was not possible for the poor to get bread. Dharejo said it was the responsibility of the federal government to take serious note of the current situation and address these issues on a priority basis.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk

More than 300 buildings in Karachi are in dilapidated condition: Nasir Hussain Shah

Karachi, June 08, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Minister for Information Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said on Monday that there were more than 300 buildings in Karachi which were not only old but in a very dilapidated condition. He said that notices had also been issued to the occupants of these buildings to vacate them immediately but they had refused. He said talks were underway with the occupants of the old buildings and that they would vacate the old buildings, relying on the government to provide them with alternative accommodation. He was speaking to reporters while visiting the site in Lyari where a 5-story residential building collapsed, killing four people and injuring many.

Shah said that legislation was also being enacted to assure the occupants of such buildings that if they were vacated, alternative accommodation would be provided to them. He said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had already issued clear instructions in this regard. He said that heavy machinery had been delivered to the affected area, with the help of which the work of lifting debris was in progress, but as the area consisted of very narrow streets, it might take some time to remove the debris.

Shah said that if there was any negligence on the part of Sindh Building Control Authority officials behind this tragic incident, it would not be tolerated. The provincial Information minister clarified that in order to stop the illegal practices, the Sindh government had already approved separate courts for Sindh Building Control Authority and the apex court had also been approached for appointments in these courts. He said that strict action had been taken against hundreds of Sindh Building Control Authority officials in the past for allowing illegal construction of buildings, adding that, various steps had also been taken to curb such illegal and dangerous practices in the future.

Shah said that black sheep were part of every institution, but the government of Sindh especially the Sindh Local Government Department was striving to expel these black sheep from the Sindh Building Control Authority once and forever. The minister said that the Sindh Building Control Authority officers had already been informed that any officer7 in whose area illegal construction would take place would be held responsible. He said that action against illegal constructions in Karachi was in full swing and many of these illegal constructions had been demolished.

Shah said that thorough investigation would be carried out into the incident of building collapse in Lyari and if anyone from Sindh Building Control Authority was found to be involved in it, strict legal action would be taken against him. He also requested the people that if the Sindh Building Control Authority identified an old and dilapidated building and issued a notice to vacate it then they should immediately vacate that building, adding that, the only purpose of these notices of SBCA was to protect the precious lives.

Meanwhile, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, while commenting about the US blogger Cynthia Richie, said that such people were launched to issue baseless statements and allegations in order to divert the attention of the people. The minister said that by making such moves, the people were entangled in unnecessary matters. “This is the time when we should talk about taking action against those involved in the sugar scandal and focus on measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the country by avoiding talking about unnecessary matters,” he said.

He said that the Sindh government was always associated with the Omni group and few people kept on saying that the Sindh government had given the most of the subsidy on sugar to this particular group while the reality was totally different. The minister said that the fact of the matter was the Sindh government had given only 15 per cent of the total subsidy on sugar to the Omni group. He said that 85 per cent of the sugar subsidy was given to the sugar mills of other groups, including Jahangir that of Jahangir Tareen and Khusro Bakhtiar. The provincial Minister said that whenever the Sindh government-subsidized sugar, it was aimed at benefiting the farmers.

Shah said that due to the incompetence of the federal government and their failure to take timely decision, today the Coronavirus is completely out of control. The provincial Information Minister said the spread of the Coronavirus could have been stopped but the federal government did not take it seriously. He said that when the Sindh government talked of lockdown, it was termed as the elite’s lockdown, although this was the only solution to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

The provincial Minister said that such mixed messages were given that the lockdown became completely ineffective. Shah said that now we have to live for an indefinite period with the Coronavirus. The provincial Information Minister further said that the Sindh chief minister has ordered an inquiry into the issue of fake domiciles and action would be taken soon in this regard.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk

All the offices of Sindh Excise Department across the province had been functioning regularly since June 2

Karachi, June 07, 2020 (PPI-OT): Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla said on Sunday that all the offices of the Sindh Excise Department across the province had been functioning regularly since June 2 and the health advisory issued by Sindh government was being implemented in letter and spirit in these offices to protect staff and visitors from coronavirus.

He said in a statement that one-third of staff in the offices for collection of property, professional and other taxes was performing their duties as per SOPs set by the Sindh government. Chawla said that keeping in view the importance of human life, the health advisory issued by the Sindh government was being strictly followed in the offices of the Sindh Excise Department and the people were also requested to take all precautionary measures while visiting these offices.

He said 25 percent exemption had been given in property, professional and other taxes, so taxpayers should take full advantage of this facility. The minister requested the people to get their property and professional tax challans from the offices of the Sindh Excise Department and as law-abiding citizens, they should deposit their taxes on time.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk

Sindh Excise Department collected Rs 68941.7 million tax in 11 months

Karachi, June 06, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Excise Department said Saturday that it had collected Rs 68941.794 million tax from July 2019 to May 2020. It said Rs 5416.907 million was collected in term motor vehicle tax, Rs 56811.278 million in infrastructure cess and Rs 512.770 million in professional tax, Rs 203.482 million in cotton fee and Rs 60.177 million in entertainment duty and the rest in other taxes.

It may be mentioned that the offices of Sindh Excise Department were closed from March 21 to June 2 due to lockdown caused by coronavirus. Provincial Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that the Sindh government had given 25 per cent exemption in property tax, professional tax, motor vehicle tax and entertainment duty keeping in view the difficulties of the people.

Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla said today that Online Queue Management System had been introduced to provide protection against coronavirus. Under this system, vehicle registration, transfer and other taxes can be deposited. He said that the health advisory issued by the Sindh government for the prevention of coronavirus was being strictly followed in the offices of the Excise Department of Sindh and on website of the Excise Department http: //taxportal.excise.gos.pk the interested taxpayers might register themselves by visiting it. Chawla said they those interested in filing taxes should immediately take advantage of the online queue management system.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk

25% of total coronavirus tests resulted in positive: Nasir Hussain Shah

Karachi, June 02, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said on Tuesday that 25 percent of the total coronavirus tests being conducted in Sindh province at present resulted in positive, which was extremely alarming. The information minister said that this was the reason why the Sindh government was repeatedly saying that if the guidelines issued on health were not followed, there could be huge losses. “If a complete lockdown had been imposed in the beginning, the coronavirus would not have spread so much today, but now we have to live with it for a long time,” he said.

He said this while addressing a press conference on Tuesday. Sindh Minister for Transport Owais Shah and Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister for Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab were also present during the press conference. Shah said that now the more we take precautionary measures, the more we would be able to protect ourselves and others from coronavirus. The minister said that it was unfortunate that despite repeated explanations, people were not understanding and were not taking the coronavirus seriously.

He said: “Our healthcare system has not enough capacity to handle so many patients, so people have to take the coronavirus seriously.” Shah said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was fortunate to have a sensible and mature opposition in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which was at least supporting it completely on the issue of lockdown, adding that, the situation in Sindh was completely different.

The minister said that whenever the Sindh government talked about imposing lockdown or ensuring implementation on the health advisory or standard operating procedures just to save the lives of the people in the province, the opposition immediately held a press conference against it. He said that people had been constantly incited against the Sindh government baselessly by the opposition, adding that, the Sindh government was portrayed as a villain or enemy.

Shah said that the Sindh government was continuously increasing the capacity of conducting testing for the detection of people affected with coronavirus. The minister said that in terms of population, the number of people infected with the Coronavirus in Karachi was less than in Lahore and Islamabad. He said there was an urgent need to increase testing capacity to detect Coronavirus patients across the country.

Shah said that after the meeting of the National Coordination Committee a unanimous voice and agreed decisions should reach the people so that people take these decisions seriously and realize that they had to follow these decisions. The minister said that if differences came to light after the coordination committee’s meeting, people would never make the decisions regarding the lockdown seriously. He said that the Sindh government would ensure implementation of the decisions taken by the federal government regarding lockdown across the province.

Shah further said that when Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was told that the people in the province were censuring the Sindh government owing to the imposition of tougher lockdown and that they would not vote for the party in the next elections, the Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party responded by asking the Sindh Chief Minister that he could lose the elections but would not compromise on people’s lives. The provincial Information Minister said that although the decisions taken by the Sindh government were unpopular, but all these decisions were taken for the benefit of the people.

He said that the Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party had also asked the Sindh government to work with the federal government on the issue of Coronavirus from the very outbreak of the pandemic. Regarding controlling inflation, Shah said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has issued clear instructions to the commissioners of all districts in this regard, directing them to keep an eye on inflation and ensure that prices of essential commodities did not go up.

He said that the Sindh chief minister was trying to ensure that the prices of essential commodities should come down after the fall in prices of oil products. He said that transporters would also be required to reduce their fares. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah also appealed to the people to fully implement the precautionary measures during traveling as intracity transport was being opened across the province. The provincial Information Minister said that from now onwards everyone had to take precautionary measures at all times, adding that this was the only way that they could protect themselves and their loved ones from getting infected with the coronavirus.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah further said that the Sindh government would have no objection if the services of Pakistan Army were sought for ensuring the implementation of the standard operating procedures. The provincial information minister said the opposition leader in Sindh feared that if the government arranged for his Coronavirus test, it would be a positive by any means. He clarified that he and the Chief Minister of Sindh had also got tested for the detection of coronavirus from Dow Lab.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Transport Minister Owais Shah said that intercity transport would be resumed in all cities of Sindh from Wednesday, June 3, but transporters would be required to strictly follow the standard operating procedures. He said that transporters who did not comply with the standard operating procedures set by the government would not be allowed to operate. The provincial transport minister said that at present intercity transport was not being allowed to operate.

Awais said that detailed discussions had been held with the transporters and they had given full assurance that they will implement the standard operating procedures issued by the government. The Transport Minister further said that the online transport service is also being restored and separate standard operating procedures had been devised for them which were mandatory to be followed. Speaking on the occasion, Barrister Murtaza Wahab urged the people to take precautionary measures as much as possible as the only way to keep oneself safe from the coronavirus was to take precautionary measures.

Wahab said people should now make face masks and sanitizers a part of their lives. He said that the situation regarding coronavirus in the province was very bad as not only the elderly but also a large number of children had been infected with Coronavirus. Wahab said that since transport was also opening up, the principle of social distance must be adopted while traveling. “The Coronavirus is a dangerous fact because there is no cure for it yet,” he said.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk

Opening of businesses will be allowed but with SOPs: Nasir Hussain Shah

Karachi, May 31, 2020 (PPI-OT):Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that COVID 19 saved the PTI government, otherwise, the state of the country’s economy owing to the failed policies of this incompetent government was in front of everyone. He said in a statement that politics itself was not a bad thing at all, but bad people had dishonoured it. “Everyone knows who is causing controversies in the country,” he said. Shah said that the seriousness of the Prime Minister regarding Covid-19 could be gauged from the fact that the first case of coronavirus in the country came to light on February 26, while the Prime Minister convened the first meeting to address this serious issue on March 13.

The minister said that only a tweet came between February 26 and March 13. He said that from the very beginning, the Sindh government tried its utmost that a unanimous voice should go out in public regarding the steps being taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but it was unfortunate to say that due to the lack of seriousness of the federal government, the sincere attempt of the Sindh government failed.

Shah said that the Sindh government decided to impose strict lockdown in the province after consulting medical experts. He said that if the Prime Minister had supported Syed Murad Ali Shah regarding strict lockdown at that time, the situation would have been very different today regarding the spread of coronavirus in the country. “Because of the federal government’s failure to make timely decisions, we will now have to deal with the coronavirus for a long time,” he said. Shah said that the opening of businesses would be allowed but with standard operating procedures.

The minister said that if on the suggestion of the Sindh government, two complete lockdowns of 15 days each had been imposed in the beginning, the coronavirus would not have spread so much in the country today. “If we had taken appropriate measures at the Iran-Afghanistan borders and at the airports in the beginning, we could have prevented the Coronavirus from entering the country,” he said.

Shah said that when the Prime Minister woke up on March 13 despite the appearance of the first Coronavirus case on February 26, how could the timely preventive measures be taken? He said the Sindh government had been accused from the beginning of intimidating the people. He said that when the doctors held a press conference and talked about the threat of coronavirus, then they were also accused of holding a press conference at the behest of the Sindh government. Shah said that although the Sindh government seemed to be a villain in the eyes of the common man and business community today, but whatever tough decisions the Sindh government took, it did it to save lives.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk

Sugar prices rose after Prime Minister allowed its export: Nasir Hussain Shah

Karachi, May 30, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that the purpose of the sugar probe commission set up by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was to find out how the price of sugar went up so much in the time of angels, even more than in the time when according to the PTI leaders, looters and thugs were in power.

The provincial minister said that it was surprising that the price of the sugar was around Rs 50 to Rs 53 in the time of the people labelled constantly by the leaders of PTI as thieves and looters, while in the time of these angels the price went up as much as Rs 80 up to Rs 83. He said that the sugar probe commission headed by Wajid Zia had exposed the angels. Shah said that according to the report of sugar probe commission, one of the major factors in sudden increase in the price of sugar was to allow its export.

The provincial minister said that about one million tonnes of sugar was allowed to be exported, which gave rise to the price of the sugar in the country. “When there is a large quantity of something in the market, its price automatically decreases and if something is less available in the market, its price definitely goes up,” he said. Shah said that the report of the same sugar probe commission stated that the permission to export sugar was given by the Prime Minister himself, adding that, he was a signatory to this permission.

Explaining further, the provincial minister said that people should know that their Prime Minister Imran Khan was also having the portfolio of in charge Commerce Minister. He said that Abdul Razzaq Dawood was merely the special assistant to the prime minister. Shah said that sugar was exported with the permission of the Prime Minister after which there was a shortage of it in the country and as a result, the price of sugar increased.

The provincial information minister said that the sole purpose of summoning Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and include him in the probe was to divert public attention. He said that it had always been the practice of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders to try to divert the attention of people by blaming others whenever they had been asked to clear their position.

Shah clarified that Omni Group was given subsidy on sugar in the year 2017, adding that, this was the year which was not included in the terms of references of sugar probe commission. The provincial minister said that if the Omni Group had been given a subsidy on sugar, it had been given only 15 per cent, while the rest was given to other sugar mills, including that of Jahangir Tareen.

He said that whenever the Sindh government had given the subsidy on sugar, its sole purpose was to benefit the farmers. Shah said that if Omni Group’s seven or eight sugar mills had been given the subsidy on sugar at around 15 per cent, then only one or two of mills of Jahangir Tareen got 13 percent subsidy. The provincial minister said that apart from this, the sugar mills of Khusro Bakhtiar and those of our biggest opponent of that time, Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza, were also given subsidy. “We have given the subsidy on sugar across the board and not to a single group or person,” he said.

Shah said that the Omni Group, which was being constantly mentioned again and again was only given15 percent of the subsidy. He clarified that there was a big difference between the sugar subsidy given by the Sindh government and the current government. He said that when the Sindh government subsidized sugar, there was an abundance of sugar and it was given to benefit the farmers.

Referring to easing the lockdown, Shah said that whatever the federal government decided in this regard after May 31, the Sindh government would go with them. Dharejo said that the Supreme Court had already ruled in this regard and a uniform policy should be formulated on the issue of coronavirus. He said that the situation in the country was not very good with regard to the spread of coronavirus, but whatever decision would be taken by the federal government the Sindh government would follow it.

For more information, contact:
Sindh Information and Archives Department
Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk