'Mixed messages to blame for SOPs violation'

Sindh CM says he appeared before NAB to dispel arrest rumours, not out of fear

ISLAMABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Thursday that 'mixed messages' from the Centre to the people were to blame for the violation of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) across the country.

Addressing the media outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office in Islamabad, where he and several other Pakistan Peoples Party leaders had been summoned in an inquiry pertaining to the Sindh Roshan Programme corruption case, he highlighted the need for a unified message telling the public about the gravity of the situation.

"SOPs are not being followed and I will not blame the public for it. This is because of the mixed signals being sent to people. One person says Covid-19 is a dangerous disease while another says it is just flu," he pointed out.

He added that the federal government was concerned about the poor, as the government should be, "but if a daily wage worker dies of the virus, who will feed his children?"

He said maintained that markets were allowed to open in Sindh in line with Supreme Court orders and clarified that the Sindh government "does not disagree with anyone on the matter. We just care for our people."

Shah further claimed he had appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in a fake accounts case, "not out of fear but to [debunk] the rumours of [his] arrest."

"The inquiry pertaining to the Sindh Roshan Programme was initiated in 2014," the CM said, adding that he was the province's finance minister at the time. He said that NAB asked him how the scheme was introduced when it was not planned. "But Article 124 of the Constitution allows introducing a scheme even if it is not planned in the budget and the scheme was also approved by the Sindh Assembly," he justified.