KARACHI: Recruitment controversy in fisheries deepens
By Latif Baloch
KARACHI, Dec 7: The issue of fresh appointments has kicked off a new controversy involving the administration and Board of Directors of the Fishermen Cooperative Society, both of whom appeared stubborn in their respective stand.
While the directors accuse the administration of causing a huge financial loss to the Society by exceeding its authority to make fresh appointments in a large number and in violation of prescribed rules and regulations, the administration cites European Union’s pressure leading to it to take this decision.
In a fresh development, a senior director and former vice-chairman of the FCS, Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote, has dismissed the administration’s contention as ‘misleading’.
Talking to Dawn on Saturday, Mr Jamote said the misleading clarification issued by the FCS contradicted facts about actual requirement of staff and EU’s pressure.
He referred to the EU certification declaring Karachi Fish Harbour as hygienic and revealed that the certificate had been issued some three years back. Since then, the EU has never called for raising the strength of staff, he said.
Maintenance of the harbour, Mr Jamote insisted, was the responsibility of the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority (KFHA) and not the Society.
He asserted the authority of FCS Board of Directors in this regard and said the Board was its supreme body which alone was competent to take decisions on matters of vital interests.
He reiterated his claim that the appointments over the past two months were made in total disregard of the Society’s administrative requirements as well as services rules.
The Board has never recommended recruitment on such a big scale which could cause financial collapse of the FCS. He regretted that the Board of Directors was not provided full information about the staff requirement and the issue was also not discussed seriously with reference to the Society’s financial position.
Mr Jamote, who heads the fishermen community living in Ibrahim Haideri, said the Society was hit by the prevailing crisis because of ill-advised policies of its present administration which used to bypass elected directors in decision-making.
He, however, made it clear that “we do not oppose recruitment... but the process must be in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations.”
Sindh Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Manzoor Ahmed Panhwar, who took the charge of the KFHA and FCS chairman only a few months back replacing Commodore Tayyab Naqvi, is facing yet another challenge due to the controversy.
According to observers, the abrupt departure of naval personnel has jolted Karachi’s fisheries sector and created many administrative problems which have to be solved once and for all.
They are of the view that the new administration is yet to resolve the lingering issue of rent which has already strained relations between the KFHA and the FCS and is hindering development projects at the harbour.
The observers believe that it is up to the new KFHA chief to tackle the issues plaguing the whole environment of the harbour by taking corrective measures to prevent deterioration in the situation. The senior representatives of the FCS and fishermen community have to be taken into confidence for the purpose, they say.
