‘PPP embezzling Covid-19, rain funds’

PTI leader claims quarantine centres lack facilities, no steps taken to help displaced persons

HYDERABAD/ KARACHI:

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government has embezzled funds allocated for the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, alleged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Hyderabad president Imran Qureshi on Sunday.

In a statement issued on the day, Qureshi accused Sindh's ruling party of misappropriating billions from public funds collected on account of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Isolation and quarantine centres, which the provincial government said were being set up for poor patients, lack adequate facilities and patients are not looked after properly," he claimed. "Besides, around 80 per cent Covid-19 patients are in home isolation while the PPP-led government continues to embezzle funds on account of their treatment."

The PTI leader further levelled allegations of misappropriating funds set aside for rain relief measures and displaced persons against Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and his cabinet. "None of the people affected [by rains and floods] have been provided any financial assistance and no step has been taken for their rehabilitation."

He said the "menace of corruption has peaked under the PPP's rule" and that the party could not bring prosperity in the province during its 12 years in the government.

Separately, PTI parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh said in a video statement that the Centre did not abandon the people of Sindh during the coronavirus pandemic and will continue to provide support to them. He added that relief goods were being distributed among flood-affected people. He thanked President Arif Alvi and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail for disembarking from their helicopter during their visit to flood-affected areas in the province and disbursing relief goods.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2020.