July 12, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 8, 1429

KARACHI, July 11: Residents of Mubarak Village, mostly comprising fishermen, have demanded of the government to provide adequate civic facilities in the area to improve the quality of life of the people.

Though the government established a dispensary in the village a few years back, it never became functional because of the non-availability of medical staff and medicines. Area people usually visit the Mauripur Grex or other parts of the city to get medical treatment, said a villager, Mohammad Haroon, while expressing concern over miserable living conditions in the area.

He said, “We have repeatedly attempted to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the plight of poor fishermen but have not received any positive response so far.”

Mr Haroon said the village was without electricity despite the fact that Hub Power Company (Hubco) was not too far from there. He also expressed concern over insufficient health, education, roads, gas and safe drinking water facilities in Hawkesbay villages from Mauripur to Mubarak village. He asked the government to accord priority to the provision of safe drinking water and to make the dispensaries functional since the cases of infectious diseases relating to throat, skin, eyes, kidney, and stomach were on the rise.

He said the livelihood of the fishermen had been badly affected due to the ‘illegal’ operation of deep-sea fishing trawlers. Holding the deep-sea trawlers responsible for the depletion of fish resources, he said the trawlers were using prohibited nets, thereby killing specious fish and depriving small fishermen from their livelihood.

He criticized the government for its failure to introduce a proper fish marketing system in the Hawkesbay villages. Besides, he demanded construction of small jetties in Hawkesbay villages and criticized the government for its failure to construct a single jetty in the area. Due to underwater rocks, he said, boats were frequently damaged while reaching the shore.