KABUL (Agencies): President Ashraf Ghani held a virtual meeting with the governors of Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa and Maidan Wardak, where they could share their measures, challenges and recommendation on fighting the spread of coronavirus.
The governors articulated their measures such as public awareness programs by seeking help from religious clerics, media and community volunteers; isolation of individuals suspected to be infected with coronavirus; preventing price gouging and controlling the price of essential items such as foodstuff and consumables in coordination with private sector; and arrangement of working opportunities for daily wagers.
M. Yaqub Haidari, governor of Kabul asked his counterparts in the central zone to inform the residents in their relevant provinces to avoid travelling to Kabul to prevent spread of the corona pandemic disease.
He added that the process of delivering and distribution of wheat packages to the needy and destitute people will begin in the Kabul city and its surrounding districts today.
Mohammad Yusof Ghazanfar, the President’s Special Representative on Economic Development, Trade and Poverty Reduction Affairs assured that coordination has been established with the private sector on control of the markets and supplying food items, goods and consumables.
First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh said the government has put measures in place to address the challenges on movement of vehicles and residents of Kabul in the city. He called for balanced distribution of wheat throughout Kabul city and asked the governors to present their realistic predictions on the areas at risk to enable the government to adopt precautionary and preventive measures.
President Ghani said, as much as 20 million Afghanis will be allocated to each province of the central zone namely Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa and Maidan Wardak for fighting the spread of covid-19, instructing the acting director of AOP to fundamentally remove procurement challenges.
The president instructed the relevant authorities to prepare a list of the poor and vulnerable who would be affected during the emergency lockdown in Kabul and provinces and underscored no stone must be left unturned to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
President Ghani said the authority to spend 30 percent of the code on disaster management has been delegated to the first vice president to ensure timely decision making in cases of emergency.
The president also said the government has initiated certain programs to encourage, support and find markets for the products of orchardists and farmers.
