May 16, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1429

KARACHI, May 15: Expressing concern over a ban on the export of seafood to European Union countries, the provincial minister for fisheries, Zahid Burghari, urged all the stakeholders to take effective measures to implement the EU guidelines at the Karachi Fish Harbour to meet international standards.

The minister said this during a visit to the harbour on Thursday. The director operations of the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority (KFHA), Abdul Waheed, briefed the minister about the various ongoing uplift projects and the role of KFHA in those schemes.

Mr Burghari stressed the need for making all-out efforts for the improvement of the working conditions of the harbour as required by EU countries.

Lauding the KFHA’s role in addressing the issue, the minister hoped that due to these efforts, the EU ban would soon be lifted.

However, he said that the maintenance of the harbour should be carried out on a priority basis and urged the KFHA officials and staff to continue their efforts in this regard.

At the same time, he said concerted efforts should be made to increase the revenue of the KFHA. The minister said that a meeting of the board of directors would be convened soon after the re-constitution of the board.

Mr Burghari also met different stakeholders of the fish harbour and assured them that their genuine problems would be resolved. He urged all the stakeholders to work collectively for the betterment of the fishery sector.

Earlier, the minister inspected the K-1, K-2 auction halls and jetties and the boat building yard area where a fire incident took place a few days ago. He directed the KFHA director operations to probe into the incident.

New FCS administrator

Dr Altaf Khwaja took over as administrator of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) as its administrator, says a press release issued here.

He replaced Tahir Mazhar Dada, who had taken over the charge of the FCS in December 2007. During his tenure, Mr Dada had initiated a number of administrative measures to improve the financial position of the FCS.