KARACHI, Oct 8: Representatives of the Karachi-based fishermen community have opposed the proposed privatisation of marketing and other facilities at the Karachi Fish Harbour and described it as a conspiracy against fishermen.

Former vice-chairman and a senior member of the defunct board of directors of the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society, Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote, told Dawn that the Karachi Fish Harbour was a very sensitive area and as such it could not be handed over to private contractors.

He strongly opposed the move of handing over the business of auction halls or any other facility at the fish harbour to private contractors, saying that it would make way for ruthless exploitation of fishermen at the hands of private contractors. He said instead of taking steps to make the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society’s board of directors functional by holding elections and allowing the elected directors to play an active role in the harbour affairs, some government agencies were allegedly involved in corrupt practices.

He said such elements had always blamed the FCS for the mismanagement of the harbour though as a matter of the fact the government agencies were responsible for creating a mess in the fisheries sector, which ultimately resulted in the imposition of a ban by European Union countries on the import of Pakistani seafood.

Mr Jamote also criticised the role of the present administrator and accused him of “selling valuable goods from the FCS store at throwaway prices”. Now when democracy had been fully restored in the country the Society should be allowed to run its affairs through its elected representatives, he added.

It is pertinent to note that some key initiatives, including a proposal for privatisation of harbour facilities, were recommended by the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) to improve the physical and management system of the harbour. The CSF is currently engaged in a number of activities with the government of Sindh, Marine Fisheries Department, KFHA and other important stakeholders for improving the harbour.

Fishermen representatives said only the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (FCS) was empowered to conduct fishing business and control and manage the auction halls in the Karachi Fish Harbour. The Society, according to them, was established in 1945 under the name of Karachi Fishermen’s Cooperative Purchase and Sale Society. It was later registered under the Cooperatives Societies Act, 1925, in nomenclature of the Fishermen Cooperative Society. Its main objective was to improve the condition of member fishermen by encouraging thrift, self-help and cooperation among them and by raising funds to be used in the business for the welfare of its members. Affairs of the Society were looked after by a board of directors, comprising seven directors elected by fishermen and eight others nominated by the government.

The Society, which is basically a non-commercial organisation, generates its own revenue by collecting 3.125 per cent charges on the sale of fish catch brought to the Karachi Fish Harbour. Against this incrome, the Society provides fishing appliances to member fishermen at a reduced cost, offers marketing facilities for the disposal of fish catch, and maintains the export zone of the harbour. Besides, the society is responsible for arranging fresh water for washing of fish catch and for providing medical and educational facilities to the fishermen community.

Opposing the privatisation move of Karachi Fish Harbour’s marketing facility, Haji Mohammad Yunis, a representative of the fishermen community of Shamspir, Kaka Village and Hawksbay, said the government was not empowered to make such a vital decision without taking the fishermen into confidence.

Mr Yunis, who is also a senior director in the defunct FCS board of directors, said the Karachi Fish Harbour project was conceived and implemented in pursuant to a funding agreement between the government of Pakistan and US-AID in 1957.

He said the project was inaugurated by the then president of Pakistan on Oct 2, 1959. It was confirmed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on May 23, 1962 and was thereafter handed over to the FCS on a condition.

The Society was required to pay off the cost of the project in annual instalments of Rs500,000 each on account of the cost of buildings and installations under the FCS control.

Mr Yunis said the FCS had paid off Rs750,000 to the federal government in instalments till the dissolution of One Unit in 1973. In the same year fisheries became a provincial subject as the 1973 Constitution came into force. Keeping all those facts in view, he said, although the Society could fight the case of harbour’s ownership fishermen representatives had always preferred to settle issues through negotiations.

Repeated attempts had been made to undermine the FCS role in the Karachi Fish Harbour and it was for this reason that the board of directors had been made non-functional, barring elected directors from playing their due role, he said.

He said the issue could be resolved by holding the elections of the board of directors of the society immediately and allowing the elected directors to take vital decisions.