02 October 2004	Saturday	16 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 1: In a major development, the Sindh government on Thursday constituted a two-member committee to streamline working of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) in order to overcome the crisis that had badly been affecting the FCS affairs.

The crisis had been deepening day by day for many weeks due to a controversy over the election of FCS chairman and vice-chairman.

The committee, comprising Shujaat Ali Qarni, a former managing director of the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority, and Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote, a former vice-chairman of the Society, has been assigned the task of handling the FCS affairs till the election for the two slots.

Mr Qarni is a government-nominated director on the FCS Board whereas Mr Jamote is an elected director who represents the group that holds all the seven seats of elected directors on the Board.

Sources said the government had constituted the committee in view of the current financial and administrative state of the FCS affairs, resulting from the large-scale recruitment in the Society done by its former chairman last year.

Immediately after taking over the charge, the committee retrenched 467 employees and imposed a ban on fresh appointments in the Society. The sacked employees included relatives of some top bureaucrats and ministers.

As a result of this decision, the sources said, the Society would be able to save Rs35 million per annum. Last year, the Society could recover only Rs70 million out of the Rs145 million outstanding against commission agents.

Although, elections for the present board of directors had been held many weeks back, those of its new chairman and vice-chairman could not be held as yet as the board could not convene its meeting for the purpose. The absence of an administrative machinery eventually brought the FCS to a financial collapse.