NCOC proposes new forum to combat locust attack

On May 8, 2020 Last updated Oct 4, 2021

NAIROBI, Feb. 21, 2020 -- A swarm of desert locusts invade parts of Mwingi Town in Kitui County, Kenya, Feb. 20, 2020. Extreme weather events due to the climate crisis are becoming the new normal in the Horn of Africa as recent heavy rains and cyclonic activity resulted in a desert locust upsurge that has affected countries in the region and beyond, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stressed. (Photo by Zhang Yu/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Zhang Yu via Getty Images)

The National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) Friday underlined the need to create a dedicated forum for effectively combating the imminent threat of locust through strong inter-provincial coordination.

There is a dire need to set-up a forum like NCOC, where all the key stakeholders can share information and resources to fight the locusts across the country in an effective manner, said Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar while chairing the NCOC meeting here.

Federal Minister for Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam informed the NCOC that the ministry had recently held a meeting with all the key stakeholders to evolve a comprehensive strategy against the locust issue.

He said all the resources were being mobilized to save the country’s agriculture from locusts’ swarms.

Fakhar also highlighted the technical assistance, provided by China to Pakistan in that regard. Asad Umar called for massive mobilization of all the existence resources and underscored the importance for adopting the ‘TSE’ (Tracking, Spraying and Elimination) policy against the locusts.

The provincial agriculture ministers, who participated in the meeting through video link, said that the locusts should be contained in Balochistan to circumvent other provinces from this menace.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Zafar Mirza and Prime Minister’s Focal Person on COVID-19 Dr Faisal Sultan apprised the meeting about overall situation in the country regarding the Coronavirus pandemic.

They also explained the reasons behind off-vent deaths of the Coronavirus infected patients in the country.

Dr Zafar Mirza told the NCOC that Punjab had been recommended for home quarantine of the coronavirus positive patients.

The meeting was also attended by NCOC National Coordinator Lt Gen Hamood Uz Zaman, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Moeed Yusuf.