By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 24: A large number of women members of fishermen community
from various parts of Sindh, including Karachi, staged a peaceful rally at
the Karachi Fish Harbour demanding construction of a separate jetty for
small fishermen.
They assembled at the harbour at 11am and after staging the demonstration,
marched up to the head office of the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority
where they raised slogans in support of their demand.
The demonstration was organised by the Pakistan Mahigir Tehrik (PMT), a
movement of local fishermen living along the Sindh coast.
PMT convener Ms Zubaida Birwani, who led the rally, said that the small
fishermen had been facing a lot of problems due to the absence of landing
facility for their catch at the harbour. She pointed out that, at present,
most of the available facilities were meant for the owners and operators of
large boats while these facilities were being denied to the owners and
operators of small- and medium-sized boats.
She said that owing to the situation, the small fishermen were forced to
make makeshift arrangements that could serve as jetties. For the purpose,
she pointed out, they had to raise structures of heavy stones which appeared
to be highly dangerous. They would often lose their catch while landing on
such a risky jetty, she added.
Ms Birwani also called on Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamot, a member of the
Fishermen Cooperative Society’s managing committee, and apprised him of the
problems being faced by small fishermen.
When contacted, KFHA Managing Director Dr Mohammad Nawaz Baloch said that
the Authority fully favoured construction of a separate jetty as it was a
longstanding demand of the small fishermen. The matter, he added, was under
consideration.
Expressing the hope that the issue would be resolved, Mr Baloch said he
would soon be meeting representatives of small fishermen to sort out the
same. He said all out efforts would be made to ameliorate the lot of
fishermen community.
He, however, maintained that, at present, the KFHA was engaged in
addressing some more important issues, including those relating meeting the
requirements of European Union, one of the major importers of Pakistani
seafood. In this context, he pointed out that steps were being taken to
build peeling sheds at the harbour and conditions across it were being
improved further.
In reply to a question, Mr Baloch said that efforts were also being made
to sort out contentious issues to have a better working relationship with
the FCS. However, he reiterated the stand that the FCS should clear KFHA
dues outstanding against it to enable the Authority to could carry out its
development works smoothly.
FCS ROLE SLATED: In an official press statement, the KFHA condemned the
FCS for, what it claimed, organizing a rally of hired women and the
labourers working at the harbour on Wednesday to exploit the situation.
Issued by the KFHA MD, the statement held the FCS responsible for creating
hurdles in the way of improvement work at the harbour. He alleged that the
banners displayed by the demonstrators had been prepared at the FCS office.
Mr Baloch maintained that millions of rupees of dues on account of the
annual ground rent were outstanding against the FCS and non-payment of which
was causing serious problems to the KFHA in executing various development
works.
The statement said: “The FCS has become an encroacher on the KFHA land and
it invariably made attempts to sabotage various steps taken by the KFHA to
meet EU requirements.”
Prior to the establishment of the KFHA, the FCS had been running the
affairs of the harbour but had miserably failed. Therefore, as per a
pre-condition of the European Economic Community, the KFHA was established
as an autonomous body to run the harbour affairs in accordance with the
prescribed rules and regulations, according to the statement.
Dr Nawaz Baloch said that a series of meetings for further expansion of
the harbour and upgrading its standards as per the EU requirements had been
held recently at the office of the Sindh chief secretary. Secretary
Fisheries, DG
Marine Fisheries Department, EU representative Dr Mike Dillon and Mr
Shujaat Qarni of the FCS had attended the meetings.
At one of the meetings, he recalled, the KFHA had been directed to take
any legal measures against the FCS if it failed to clear the dues
outstanding against it. “Alternatively, the KFHA shall give the auction
halls to another party after completing the formalities,” the meeting,
according to the KFHA MD, had decided.