PM reopened construction sector to benefit labourers, says Shibli Faraz

Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan opened the construction sector to “benefit the labourers who were its backbone”.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, he said that the premier’s foremost concern regarding a lockdown was the impact it would have on labourers and daily-wage workers.

“We provided them with Rs12,000 while upholding their self-respect. We gave incentives to industries to retain them during the lockdown. We opened the construction sector even though we faced criticism for doing so,” Shibli said.

He said that there is “agreement between the federal and Sindh governments now as conditions evolve”. Shibli Faraz said that the coronavirus is a “national problem and cannot be solved on a provincial basis”.

Shibli Faraz said that Pakistan cannot afford a “sweeping lockdown”, adding that the Sindh government has also realised that the lockdown cannot be tightened. He said that the Prime minister has maintained “from the first day that a complete lockdown is not possible and it has failed even in the United States”.

He further said that the “wheel of the economy must keep turning”.