KARACHI: Political figures blamed for destruction of fish industry
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 10: Representatives of the fishermen communities in Karachi have held, what they called, the 'self-imposed' and 'politically nominated' leadership of the Fishermen Cooperative Society
responsible for the ruination of the fish industry, and urged the Sindh government not to appoint any political figure as chairman of the FCS in future.
The representatives held a meeting at Khadda under the chairmanship of Haji Mohammad Yunis, one of the senior elected directors of the Society, to discuss the issue of the future FCS leadership and other matters relating to the Karachi fish harbour.
They criticized the Sindh government for not calling a meeting of the 15-member FCS board of directors for the purpose of electing a new chairman despite a lapse of six months. They demanded measures for holding the meeting immediately so that the directors could elect a new chairman and bring the lingering crisis to an end.
Talking to Dawn after holding a series of meetings with the fishermen's representatives, Haji Yunis there was consensus of opinion at the meetings that the government should stop interfering in the affairs of the Society, a cooperative and non-governmental body.
He warned that if the board's meeting was not called, the fishermen communities would resort to agitation they were determined to protect their organization from political manoeuvrings.
Giving the background of the present crisis, he said the FCS, created in 1945, had been run smoothly till early '90s. During this period, he said, it was controlled by non-political figures, though they were high-ranking government officials.
He was of the view that the organization started facing serious financial and administrative problems soon after the induction of political figures in its leadership and the situation took an ugly turn when the provincial government delayed the election of the chairmanship.
He recalled that in the '80s and early '90s, there was no financial crisis in the Society and its administrative affairs had been handled by a few low-paid officials.
The Yunisabad and Shamspir-based representative of the community recalled that the situation started worsening when the then government nominated a member of the ruling party as FCS chairman and a negative policy to deal with the Society affairs was adopted.
Haji Yunis pointed out that on Dec 27, 1995, a notification had been issued by the provincial government under which both the movable and immovable properties and water areas at the fish harbour had been transferred to the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) and under another notification issued on November 11, 1996, the FCS had been asked to pay the KFHA 50 per cent of the commission collected by the Society.
He claimed that such decisions had been taken without taking members of the Board and FCS into confidence. The members, he added, had regarded the decision as contrary to the interests of the fishermen communities.
Consequently, Haji Yunis said, the FCS moved the court where its petition was still pending a verdict. However, he added, efforts were made for some out-of-court settlement when Commodore Syed Tayyab Naqvi took over the charge of the FCS and KFHA.
In the year 2004, the matter was again placed before the FCS board of directors by Sardar Manzoor Ali Khan Panhwar, who was holding charge of the FCS chairman and KFHA chief, in his capacity as provincial minister for fisheries and livestock.
It was decided that the FCS would pay Rs10 million per annum to the KFHA for the lease of all the buildings and installations controlled by the FCS at the harbour for a 25-year lease period.
It was also decided that the lease agreement would be between the KFHA and FCS and signed by the MD of KFHA and vice-chairman of the FCS in presence of their legal advisers, the minister of fisheries & livestock, and the secretary who would also sign the document as witnesses.
The elected directors of the FCS pointed out that in spite of the fact that the lease money, Rs10 million, had already been paid to the KFHA, the lease agreement and deed was yet to be finalized.
