SC terms Covid-19 additional burden on economy

The Supreme Court Wednesday noted that the Covid-19 has come as an additional burden on the federal government, and the manner in which this virus has started spreading in Pakistan, has set the alarm bells ringing.

"We are fully cognizant that the menace of coronavirus (Covid-19) is very much present in Pakistan and it has also caused large number of fatalities and considerable number of people has been infected and their numbers are increasing day-by-day," said the five-judge bench written order issued on Wednesday.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had heard the suo motu on federal and the provincial governments' measures to combat the coronavirus crisis on May 19.

This virus being new, there was no readiness of the government to deal with the same, nor the necessary medical equipment were available to face the growing number of infected cases.

"Yes, the federal government did take immediate steps to face this virus and mitigate its effects on the people of Pakistan, and in this regard, colossal amount of money was diverted and used."

"We admit that Pakistan has a struggling economy and coronavirus (Covid-19) made it more staggering. However, we note that the people of Pakistan have a fundamental right, namely, right to life, under which Government of Pakistan is required to provide to the people of Pakistan safe and healthy living conditions," said the order.

Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan had informed the bench about the presence of coronavirus (Covid-19) in Pakistan.

He had contended that this virus has spread in the country, infecting considerable portion of its population, which is the matter of grave concern for the Government of Pakistan.

Khan further told that the worst was yet to come and the Government of Pakistan was expecting severe spike in spread of this virus in the month of June, 2020.

He has further contended that the resources available with the Government of Pakistan are not enough to meet the emerging scenario and there is every likelihood that the health sector will be overwhelmed.

Khan has explained that Pakistan's economy was already facing challenges when the incumbent government took charge of the country, in that, not much money was available in the coffers, and while the government was making effort to recover from the economic crises, this coronavirus (Covid-19) emerged and all resources of the government meant for health sector, were exhausted in dealing with this virus and even the resources, meant for other development activities, were also utilized to meet the challenges emerging from this virus.

He has contended that government has taken all necessary steps to secure the life of the people of Pakistan.

Khan has, however, contended that the emerging challenges owing to the coronavirus (Covid-19) are real.

Chairman NDMA Lt-General Muhammad Afzal had briefed that the coronavirus (Covid-19), being a new virus, required special gears, tools and equipment for protection, treatment and control of the same, and such gears, tools and equipment being not readily available in the scale, as were required to deal with the coronavirus (Covid-19), the Government of Pakistan allocated funds to immediately procure the same.

Such gears, tools and equipment were procured from abroad and distributed harmoniously among all regions of Pakistan.

The NDMA further stated that yet another big challenge is seriously emerging in Pakistan that of locust attack to its agriculture fields, and the authority has activated itself to deal with and overcome this challenge.

In this regard, not only it has imported from abroad, a special aeroplane for spraying the pesticides but local manufacturing of the components, which are required for use in the aeroplanes, has also started, to ultimately manufacture the aeroplanes locally.

He has stated that all arrangements have been made to fight the locust, which has already arrived in the region, practically, all over Pakistan and arrival of more lethal swarms of locust is near.

The NDMA is prepared to immediately get rid of it and save the agricultural fields of the country.