KARACHI: Two women with bags full of potato chips sit waiting for their boat near the jetty stairs, one man has a packed carton full of samosas ready to load on a boat, a police constable sitting on a bench waves away a fly and yawns. It’s business as usual at the Keamari jetty where people are heading out to Manora or the Baba, Bhit or Salehabad islands on boats.

“We are waiting to go to Manora. We came to the city early to get these supplies to sell them to the picnickers and tourists on Manora beach,” says Naseeba. “We are from Manora. We live there but commute between the city and the island for our livelihood,” says Waseela who is squatting next to her.

“Because we are regular commuters, the boat owners know us by face and give us a concession on the fare. “I pay Rs10 per ride,” provides Abdul Rauf before picking up his carton of samosas to carry on his shoulder. Meanwhile, the women say that they pay Rs20 per ride as they want to be dropped a little ahead on Manora.Some boats are loading up on sacks full of potatoes, onions and other vegetables. A meat seller loads up a big plastic bag full of beef. The samosa seller and the women don’t seem interested in joining him in the boat. “This boat is leaving for Baba and Bhit, not Manora,” Waseela explains.

“There are no roads for carrying goods to Baba and Bhit islands and nothing grows there so the groceries and other supplies must reach the over 8,000 population there through boats,” says Bilal Rambo, a boat owner, who transports passengers and cargo in his two boats, Mashallah and Furshina, the whole day. “We are here 24 hours a day,” he adds.

About the size of his boats, he says, “Well, the boats are medium-size and each is licensed to carry 40 people at one time. We charge them Rs30 each for Baba and Bhit islands and Rs50 each for Manora.”

But the boat owner clarifies that if they had fewer passengers, the fare could go up as he needs to make a certain amount per ride to be able to pay for diesel. “Diesel is expensive, madam,” he justifies.

Asked how much he charges for transporting cargo, he says it depends on the size of the stuff and how much space it takes. “We need to see the load before we decide that,” he explains.

For the safety of passengers, he says, they keep life jackets provided to them by the Karachi Port Trust and the Docks police available on the boats. “We don’t make our passengers wear them but we have them somewhere,” he provides.

If the 40 or so people who fell in the water and almost drowned last week after their boat sank had been wearing life jackets it wouldn’t have taken so long to save them. “But they were saved, weren’t they?” snaps Bilal Rambo.

Sunken ramp

Abdul Rasheed, owner of another boat named ‘Ambulance’ draws our attention to a broken and sunken barge ramp. “The ramp was very useful when in place. Elderly people, the sick and dead could easily be brought to the ramp instead of being carried up through the jetty stairs. But it is a big hurdle in our way now. Many boats bump or crash into it on their way in or out of the harbour. We wish the KPT remove it if they can’t fix it. It’s been like this for months now,” he complains.

“The boat that sank here last week first bumped against this ramp,” says Abdul Sattar who owns a boat, Al Naveed. “The poor captain of the boat, Nasir, didn’t realise how badly his boat had been damaged until he left the harbour,” he adds.

“Maintaining our boats is also an issue. These are wooden boats. The carpenter charges Rs1,000 a day, the wood costs, too, as do the iron nails. On average, we spend between one-and-a-half and two hundred thousand rupees a year to keep a boat in shape. Then we also have four to seven sailors to pull the ropes, tie knots, etc., on each boat and they are also to be paid Rs250 to Rs300 per day,” he says. “If the KPT or navy boats bump or crash into this sunken ramp, the government pays for their repair. We, on the other hand, have to pay for the damage from our pockets,” he complains.

The jetty is the busiest on Sundays. Mohammad Hayat, the constable on duty at the Keamari jetty, meanwhile, says his job is to monitor the boats and make sure they are not overloaded. “But it happens anyway,” he says frankly.

On being contacted, KPT spokesman Shafiq Faridi cites overcrowding for the last week boat accident and speaks about the fate of the ramp. “It was built by the KPT for the convenience of the people. But the overcrowded boats keep bumping into it. That’s how it broke in the first place,” he says.

“But tenders for its repair have been filled and submitted and it will be repaired soon enough,” the KPT official adds.

About the accident, he says, “Our KPT men dived into the water to save those people from drowning and when interviewed later most of them said they had pointed out to the boat captain that there was water in the boat, which he ignored saying that it was normal and he could bail the water out with buckets and pots and pans, which he failed to do eventually.”

Asked why the KPT cannot help control overcrowding, Mr Faridi says that it used to be their responsibility but not anymore. “After boat owners and other people there showed their unhappiness about our presence there, it is now the job of the Motor Boats Association and Docks Police,” he explains. Ghulam Hussain, who heads the Motor Boats Association, says that KPT’s Port Security Force was too harsh with the people and after they misbehaved with some womenfolk near the jetty, they had to object to their style of work. “That’s when KPT pulled out,” he recalls.

“We try to control the overloading of passengers in boats but the policemen stationed there are also a problem, as they take money from the people to get them on already full boats,” he adds.

A few years back, the KPT was known to transport passengers to Manora and other islands without charging them fare on ferries such as the Surkhab, which was scrapped later on. Today, too, they have two ferryboat services, Arfa and Afza, operating between Manora, Baba, Bhit and Salehabad islands but they are chiefly meant for KPT officers and personnel. “The ferries have a plenty of room, for around 200 people, so we do also take passengers when we have extra space,” the KPT spokesman claims.