HYDERABAD, May 6: The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has rejected the contract system in all sweet-water lakes and ponds as well as the Indus River and demanded that licence system should be introduced for catching fish. The forum demanded that affected people of the LBOD and RBOD including fishermen should be paid compensation without any delay.

These demands were raised by a jury of fishermen court held at the Sindh Museum here on Thursday evening.

The jury comprising the former deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, Nisar Affandi, Karamat Ali and Nazeer Memon.

The court heard fishermen from various districts.

It held proceedings for about four hours and the decision of the jury was announced by Nisar Affandi.

The chairman of the forum, Syed Mohammad Ali Shah, who was complainant in the case, appeared on behalf of fishermen and produced documentary evidence to support the cause of the fishermen.

He said the contract system was a flagrant violation of article-III and other articles of the Constitution.

He said the fishermen work day and night to catch fish but the sale proceeds of the entire catch were pocketed by contractors.

Mr Shah requested that the contract system should be abolished and the fishermen be given right to catch fish from all sweet-waters of the province.

The jury in its decision said the lease system mentioned in the Sindh government’s Ordinance 1980 should be abolished and the licence system be introduced.

It said the licence for catching fish should only be issued to local fishermen of each lake, pond and river.

The court said reasonable licence fee should be charged from fishermen who should be issued identity cards duly verified by the Fisherfolk Forum.

The court held the government and Wapda responsible for defective design of the LBOD and RBOD.

It said the government was responsible for releasing poisonous water into the Manchhar Lake resulting in the loss of human lives.

The court recommended that the fishermen should be brought under umbrella of security and old-age benefit laws.

Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah said problems of the fishermen were linked with the problems of Sindh.

He said the contract system was worst type of exploitation and added that this exploitation could only be ended by introducing the licence system.

Nisar Affandi urged the fishermen to forge unity in their ranks to get rid of the exploitative contract system.

Nazeer Memon said there were about 2,000 sweet-water lakes and ponds in Sindh and due to the release of brackish water in Manchhar, Hamal and Keenjhar lakes, thousands of fishermen had been rendered jobless and many others had died due to consumption of poisonous water.

Mr Memon said the poisonous water of the MNV drain was being released in the Manchhar Lake.