KARACHI: FCS still without a chairman

Published September 2, 2004

KARACHI, Sept 1: The Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) is still without a chairman and its affairs are being looked after by the acting chairman for the time being.

The process of election for the FCS Board of Directors was completed on March 4 but the new directors are yet to convene a meeting to elect a chairman and vice-chairman, mandatory under the Society's bylaws.

The inordinate delay in convening the meeting of the 15-member Board has been creating confusion and the members, facing numerous problems and seeking action on their applications, have been in a fix over the unnecessary halt to the day-to-day work at the FCS office.

Considering the 'grave situation', the elected directors had sought Sindh governor's assistance in getting, what they called, 'political interference' in the FCS affairs. However, they have not yet received a proper response.

Sources have been attributing the delay in the holding of the Board's meeting to a rift over the nomination of the directors from government side. They pointed out that the nominations had come from two different departments that had added more confusion to already uncertain situation.

While bickering over the holding of the Board's meeting continued, another development took place when the March 4 election was challenged in a court of law by the acting chairman who has claimed that there had been serious irregularities in the poll process.

The sources said that under the present circumstances, the Board's meeting might not be held till a verdict on the acting chairman's petition. The court is expected to dispose of the petition in a week or so.