KARACHI: Provincial Minister for Sindh Works and Services, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, on Monday urged the all stakeholders of the society to implement on Provincial Motor Vehicles Act which makes mandatory for all motorists to give way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
Addressing an awareness session jointly organised by Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at JPMC.
The attendees included representatives of the media, police, traffic police, transport authorities, health department, emergency medical providers and the medical fraternity.
Nasir Shah Said all the political parties had played an important role to get Provincial Motor Vehicles Act passed from Sindh Assemble, while role Executive Director, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Dr Seemin Jamali was also laudable in this regard. He said Sindh government is enforcing motor vehicle laws across the Sindh province and there is an urgent need to make betterment in implementation process through public education.
He revealed that the annual budget of JPMC has been increased in compared with past, while remarkable developed worked is being carried out in the institution under public-private partnership. He said people from all over Pakistan are availing the advance treatment facilities from this health facility.
Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, who also held the transport portfolio and worked towards passing the amendments, said, “Passing the law is an important milestone. But this step will translate into safer roads for the injured, the sick and those in distress only if the law is respected and properly implemented. I commend the efforts of the ICRC, SZABIST, JPMC, and the Law and Transport Departments of the Sindh government for this positive legislative change.”
Recent amendments to the Provincial Motor Vehicles Act makes it mandatory for all motorists to give way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles, failing which the offenders are liable to pay a fine. In order to highlight this landmark legislative change that not only impacts patient survival but also prevents attacks against emergency health care, a good number of people attended an awareness session held at JPMC.
As per the amendments, a fine of 600 Pakistani Rupees will be imposed on the motorists who fail to give way to an ambulance or willfully obstruct the passage of an emergency vehicle or do not maintain a safe distance while following an emergency vehicle or an ambulance. The ICRC and SZABIST legal teams have worked with and supported the government authorities concerned in making the amendments to the Provincial Motor Vehicle Act possible.