KARACHI, July 20: No decision has been taken on harbour property rent as the matter is still disputed and yet to be settled.

This was stated by the chairman of the Fishermen Cooperative Society, Sardar Manzoor Ali Khan Panhwar while rejecting the requisitioned plea for summoning the special general body meeting called by 57 members of the Society in June last.

On June 20, as many as 57 members of the Society had requisitioned the special general body meeting to discuss some contentious issues pertaining to the FCS and the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority.

The requisitioned letter, which was signed by a senior director Haji Muhammad Yunis, and 57 other members was sent to the chairman under the relevant by-laws.

The share-holders, who are the bonafide fishermen raised various issues, which included the validity of the May 24th meeting leading to the election of a new chairman and vice- chairman of the Society.

Another important issue was the rent dispute between the FCS and the KFHA on harbour property and facility, which had been lingering on between the two bodies for quite some time.

According to the by-laws, after the receipt of requisitioned notice, the chairman is bound to call such a meeting within a month.

In a letter circulated to the members, the chairman disputed the validity of requisitioned plea, saying that it was not in accordance with the by-laws of the Society.

According to him, the rent issue was not a settled issue as the matter was under dispute and it was yet to be decided. He argued that once the competent authority took action, thereafter the issue would be opened for debate.

Considering the current situation, the chairman said at this point it was premature to comment. Therefore, he added that the requisitioned was a maintainable.

The chairman of both bodies, who is also the provincial minister for livestock and fisheries, Sardar Manzoor Ali Khan Panhwar, also disagreed with other issues.

He said that the meeting of May 24th was lawfully held accordance to the by-laws of the Fishermen Cooperative Society. Quoting the FCS by-laws, he argued that no resolution could be brought for cancelling a previous resolution of the general body unless three months had been expired after passing of the original resolution.

He also took the plea that elections of chairman and vice- chairman were held lawfully and the entire process of elections were held strictly in accordance with the FCS by-laws.

According to him, section 32(C) of the FCS by-laws provides that eight directors will be nominated by the government. It does not talk about the ministry, where from the directors will be nominated by the government. It is, therefore, prerogative of the government to nominate any person as director of the Society, he said.

A senior director of the Society, Haji Mohammad Yunis, criticized the FCS chairman for “further aggravating the situation”.

He said by rejecting the requisitioned special general body meeting, the chairman had adopted an “open path of confrontation” that is against the interest of the FCS and the government.

He was of the view that all issues could have discussed in the meeting and an amicable settlement could have been made for resolving the outstanding issues.

Mr Yunis said that it was surprising to note that instead of calling the special general body meeting of bonafide fishermen, the minister preferred to call a meeting of “handpicked and disputed” Board of Directors’ meeting on July 21 to endorse the decisions of the controversial May 24th meeting.

Unfolding the future plans, Mr Yunis said that he and his colleagues would contact their legal representative for seeking legal remedy in this regard.

At the same time, he said, “We will also attend the July 21st meeting in protest.” He claimed that any move which would be against the interest of fishermen community would be widely opposed.