Lt Gen Afzal, during an interview to digital news outlet Independent Urdu, said: “We faced a number of issues in data collection, coordination, and communication due to 18th amendment during the fight against the pandemic.”
The chairman said that there isn’t any ‘political tussle’ on-going between NDMA or centre and the government of Sindh. “Apart from several members of Sindh cabinet, CM Murad Ali Shah and chief secretary Sindh are my personal friends.”
The NDMA chief further said that Pakistan Army has a lot of contributions in the fight against coronavirus. “Earlier, I wasn’t satisfied with the dispatching of protective gear. We were dispatching the PPEs to provincial governments but those in need weren’t getting them. Then I requested COAS to allow army soldiers to deliver the protective to the hospitals directly,” he added.
Lt Gen Afzal revealed that 40% of NDMA’s employees belonged to Pakistan Army. “There are several benefits of having ‘army man power’ because my civilian brothers aren’t trained to carry out certain tasks especially those on emergency basis.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has responded to the remarks of Lt Gen Afzal. “The Chairman NDMA is a uniformed officer of a civilian institute, he should not issue political statements. 18th amendment is part of the same constitution on which the Chairman NDMA has taken oath. Any officer or institution does not have authority to object the constitution,” the Senator said.