KARACHI, Oct 1: A meeting of the 15-member board of directors of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) is scheduled to be held on Oct 5 to take up the issue of the elections of the new directors and other matters pertaining to the fisheries sector.

The existing board completed its three-year term on Aug 4, 2007.

According to the by-laws of the FCS, the directors shall hold office for three years or until new board is elected by the

annual general body after the expiry of the term. But such election shall not be delayed more than six months after the expiry of the term of three years.

The bylaw-39 of the society says, subject to the bylaws and resolutions passed at the general body meeting, the board shall have full authority to carry on the business of the Society. However, it shall meet at least once a month.

Last month, elected directors of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) had called a general body meeting which gave its approval to a new amendment to the Society’s bylaws enhancing the number of elected directors and reducing the strength of the government nominated directors in the board. However, a number of stakeholders had termed the proceedings of the meeting illegal.

A senior elected director of the board said that they would take up the amendment issue in the upcoming meeting so that new elections of the board would be held on the basis of the amendment passed in the general body meeting.

The board is the highest policymaking authority that manages the business and administrative affairs of the FCS through its directors.

The board of directors at its first meeting shall elect from amongst themselves a chairman and a vice-chairman.

It is worth noting that the FCS failed to elect a new chairman after the Aug4, 2004 elections allegedly due to “bureaucratic intrigues and government interference”.

As a result, a two-member ad hoc committee was appointed to run the affairs of the FCS.

The elected directors blamed the government for imposing political figures on the society which they argued had been the root cause of the current crisis in the fisheries sector.