STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that in addition to using its own resources, the government is raising funds because the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis will “further worsen”. Speaking during a telethon held on a private television channel to collect donations for the Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Fund, the premier said that “nobody can predict whether this corona will go on for six months or eight months or even next year,” adding that countries need to prepare their systems to deal with the pandemic. “No federal or provincial government alone can win the war against the coronavirus, only national unity can,” the premier concluded. “Some 12 million people are being distributed money for rations through the Ehsaas Cash Programme. We have a list of 12 million people but we will keep increasing the number of people [as the crisis drags on],” he said. The premier added that while doing relief work during the 2005 earthquake and the floods that devastated huge parts of the country, he had observed mismanagement. “There were some areas that received so many relief items that people started selling them while some distance away, there were people who were starving.” Underscoring the necessity of coordinating relief efforts, the prime minister said the government would soon launch a website where it would register both the people.
