KARACHI, Feb 7: The road leading to Karachi Fish Harbour is virtually occupied by transport operators who have been using it as parking lot for their long and heavy vehicles.
Such vehicles are berthed one after the other along both the sides of the road as a usual practice for loading and unloading purposes.
The haphazard parking of these vehicles creates a great deal of congestion on the road causing traffic jams and inconvenience to visitors and workers of the harbour.
This situation does not only give an ugly look to the whole locality, but also gives a bad impression to the foreigners visiting this one of the most important economic installation.
Fisheries workers and visitors often express their annoyance over the untidy conditions prevailing all around the main access to the harbour.
The also question the justification of the presence of a roadside restaurant next to the entrance of the harbour which adds to the mess and untidy conditions due to the waste material it generates.
The whole area gives a look of a truck stand, and not a harbour, one of the visitors remarked during a survey of the area.
It is learnt that this issue had been raised by the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) in 2003 with the government agency responsible for the allotment of land to a private contractor for commercial purposes.
At that time, both the KFHA and the FCS (Fishermen Cooperative Society) were governed by naval personnel. The then KFHA chairman had expressed his reservations over the allotment, which had been made through a letter addressed to the KPT chairman.
The KFHA, it is further learnt, has requested to the authorities concerned no to allot any more plots on this road, and has also stressed that the contractor already allotted a plot may be shifted to some other suitable place.
However, according to harbour sources, the request has been turned down on the plea that “the KPT has the right to utilize the land owned by it in a suitable way.” The request has been termed ‘interference’ and the KFHA has been asked to ensure that no such situation was created by it in future.
