KARACHI, June 30: All the seven directors of the Board of Fishermen Cooperative Society, who will represent their respective fishermen communities, will now be elected by secret ballot.

This was decided by the FCS Board which met here under the chairmanship of Abuzur Mariwara. Of the 15 members of the board, eight will be nominated by the government. The meeting decided that the first election of the seven directors through secret ballot would be held on Aug 4.

The FCS Board also unanimously agreed to pay Rs10 million to the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority (KFHA). KFHA Managing Director Dr Ali Nawaz Baloch told the meeting that a lease agreement for 25 years would be made for this purpose.

A six-member committee was also constituted to scrutinize the cases of fresh appointments, which were made recently in the Fishermen Cooperative Society. The board empowered the committee to retain the services of only essential staff.