October 08, 2008	Wednesday	Shawwal 08, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Master plan of the Karachi Fish Harbour that includes a roadmap for the modernisation of the existing auction halls and construction of new ones is almost complete. It also includes provision of a shrimp-peeling unit and other plans based on the need for potential to generate revenues.

The Sindh government has taken several key initiatives to restructure and upgrade the harbour to bring it on a par with international standards, including outsourcing the entry gates to the harbour, a move which is already working well. Likewise, the spillway operation has been leased out and has brought about a reduction in congestion.

Boat modification work momentum has improved and there is a marked improvement in the coordination between the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) and the Marine Fisheries Department (MFD). A one-window operation has been established for fishing boats with the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), KFHA, Maritime Security Agency (MSA), Customs and Coast Guard also housed in one place

The initiatives were put in place after the provincial government sought the help of the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) to improve the physical and management system of the harbour. CSF is currently engaged in a number of activities with the government of Sindh, Marine Fisheries Department, KFHA and other important stakeholders for improving the harbour.

In early 2007, the European Union banned import of seafood from Pakistan. This had made the previous government ask CSF to intervene.

On the basis of a document titled “Action Plan for Fish Quality and Adding Value at Karachi Fish Harbour” CSF proposed key initiatives to the provincial and the federal governments and their agencies to improve the harbour.

The action plan proposed by the CSF included reorganisation of the management structure of the harbour. CSF suggested privatisation of the management via a private sector company structure. It also proposed better water supply, more ice-making facilities, rationalising the number of boats at the harbour, improving the sewerage system and upgrading of the auction halls.

The federal and provincial governments fully supported the proposed action plan and its recommendations. The CSF, in May 2008, prepared a “roadmap” as part of the continuing process of restructuring and upgrading the harbour.

The purpose of the roadmap was to guide the stakeholders about the steps they could take in order to bring the harbour up to a standard that complies with international requirements. The aim of the process of change and restructuring agreed with the government of Sindh was to move forward the privatisation of the harbour in respect of an international management company to be brought in to take over and manage the operations and assets of the harbour.

The first step proposed in the roadmap was taken on August 27 with the notification of a newly-constituted board for the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority. The new board members include the major stakeholders, like representatives of the federal Marine Fisheries Department, the government of Sindh and fishermen communities. CSF is also a board member representing a resolve by the government and other responsible stakeholders to develop an internationally competitive facility.

Excluded from the new board are the influential figures who previously controlled the auction halls and who contributed to the existing poor conditions at the harbour.

A meeting of the board will be held soon with the aim of undertaking the work necessary to offer a contract to a private management company.

Funding of $8 million for the next steps proposed in the roadmap will be presented to the board in the form of a draft PC-1. Central to the renewed activity by the board will be a continuation of consensus-building about the necessary technical and management steps necessary for success. Further consultations will include a series of “stakeholder workshops” and “formal consultative meetings” that will build a consensus.

“The outcome of these activities will be an increase in the value of the catch by about $35 million as a result of improved quality and better market prices,” said Mr Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive of the CSF. He further noted that there would be a reduction in the quantity of trash fish, which was currently being used for animal feed at loss-making prices. “The interventions will restore $60 million exports, lost to Europe annually, by re-establishing EU listing for fish processors,” he said.

Pakistan marine fisheries produce more than 400,000 tons of fish and more than 20,000 tons of shrimp. The produce loses value from capture to delivery to the processors all along the cold chain due to poor handling and inadequate use of ice.

The CSF is a joint initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the ministry of finance, Pakistan.

USAID’s support for CSF is part of the $2.8 billion aid that the US government has provided to Pakistan since 2002 to improve economic growth, education, health and governance, and to reconstruct the earthquake-affected areas.