KARACHI, June 21: The Sindh Wildlife Management Board, which was dissolved a couple of months ago, is yet to be reconstituted. The board was headed by the chief executive of the province.
Established in 1970, the board used to work independently and met its expenses by imposing fines on poachers and from hunting fees.
The sources said in early 1990s the then government in its bid to win over a member of Sindh assembly, who was also a hunter, created a wildlife department and made him wildlife minister. Despite some disagreements, the department and the board co-existed for a certain period.
The then board was dissolved and reconstituted in 2002, the sources said.
Soon after the present government assumed power in 2003, that board was dissolved as well.
The sources said very few of the board members were conservationists and a large number of them had been poachers and hunters.
A look at the last board dissolved in April 2003 revealed that out of the 13 private members only three were not hunters. Three other members were representatives of various international wildlife conservation organizations and others were government officials.
After the board’s revival in 2002, it held at least six meetings in less than six months, but after the present government assumed office, the board meetings could not be held on a regular basis, the sources said.
The sources claimed that the ministers usually considered that the board was interfering in the wildlife department’s official matters. As a result they preferred to work without a board.
