Govt releases Rs1b to PDMA

QUETTA: Finance Minister of Balochistan Mir Zahoor Buledi on Sunday said one billion rupees have been released to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) out of which 10 million rupees have been allotted to each commissioner in Balochistan.

"Emergency measures are being taken in Balochistan to control the spread of coronavirus," he said while speaking at a press conference at the PDMA office in Quetta. "The government has issued Rs 10 million to each commissioner and the PDMA has also been issued more than one billion rupees.”

The finance minister added that presently 141 people are affected by the coronavirus out of which 131 are pilgrims and 10 are local transmissions. "We have the capacity to keep 2,033 people in the isolation wards. Apart from this, the Health and Emergency Village is also being set up at a rapid speed.”

Responding to a question, he said, "We have taken steps for the pilgrims by utilising all the available resources, but people from other provinces want to take credit for the good work". 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2020.