'Transparency in use of Corona Emergency Relief Fund being fully ensured'

Sindh Minister for Information, Local Government, Housing & Town Planning, Religious Affairs, Forest and Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that transparency in the use of the 'Corona Emergency Relief Fund' was being fully ensured and the concerns of the honourable Supreme Court would be addressed with full explanation and record in the next hearing.

Provincial Minister of Information said that a highly credible committee comprising Dr Abdul Bari Khan, Mushtaq Chhapra and Faisal Edhi, besides Sindh Chief Secretary and Secretary Finance was looking after all the matters related to the expenditure of this fund.

He said all the money raised in the fund would be spent on assisting all deserving people who had been affected by the lockdown.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said all the funds released so far had been given to the Deputy Commissioner so that they could ensure the distribution of rations to all the needy people in their respective districts. External and internal audits had also been arranged to maintain transparency of all funding expenditures, the provincial minister said. He said the people of the province should believe that every single penny of the 'Corona Emergency Refund' would be spent in a very transparent manner.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the Hon'ble Supreme Court had been fully apprised about the amount donated in Corona Emergency Relief Fund and the expenses incurred in this fund through Advocate General Sindh, adding that, further details would be submitted in the court in the next hearing.

The Sindh government was grateful to all those who generously extended donations to the Corona Emergency Relief Fund, the provincial Minister said. He said it was the peoples' confidence in the Sindh government that they donated so generously.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah further said the Sindh government was well aware of all the people who had been affected by the lockdown, and for that reason the Sindh government was in constant consultation with the businessmen, adding soon they would come to a unanimous solution.

Provincial Information Minister said that in a couple of days, businessmen would meet Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, adding various proposals were under consideration about opening of the businesses, which would be finalised after consultations.

He said clerics and all the religious scholars were also being approached to seek guidance regarding congregation prayers in the mosques.