Meeting held to sort out fisheries auction hall suspension

KARACHI: The Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) and Fishermen’s Cooperative Society Ltd (FCSL) met to discuss the suspension of auction halls K-I and K-II from displaying and auctioning fish and fishery products for exports to the EU countries by the Marine Fisheries Department (MFD), a statement said on Monday. The meeting was chaired by KFHA Managing Director Muhammad Ramzan Awan.
Haji Khan Mir Khan, representative of FCSL said that FCSL was ready to undertake the extension of auction hall K-I, and installation of sliding-mesh rollers on the walls and gates of auction hall K-II, as per the MFD instructions.
He said that due to litigation and crisis in the FCSL management, the cooperative society registrar had seized the accounts and only salaries were being paid as per orders of the Sindh High Court.
MFD Acting Director General Israr Ahmed said that deficiencies, if removed as pointed out by MFD, would allow exporters to purchase from K-I and K-II auction halls.
It was decided in the meeting that KFHA would request the Secretary Cooperation Department to resolve the FCSL management issue and take measures to open its bank accounts, so that FCSL might follow with the upgradation of the auction halls.
Further, processing plant owners, buyers and sellers who placed fish and fishery products on the floor, would be penalised by the KFHA director operations or his representative, and accordingly the MFD would be informed not to issue export certificates to such delinquents.
The meeting further discussed the dumping of catch on the roadsides at the Karachi Fish Harbour, and decided to now allow it and to take strict actions against offenders. They asked vendors to obtain stainless steel trolleys and plastic crates from crate washing station for the transportation of products.
Processing plant owners involved in dumping garbage outside their premises or roadside should be penalised by KFHA, the meeting decided. The KFHA director operations would issue notices to the violators.
The KFHA and FCSL would jointly check the drainage system and other sanitary installations to maintain hygienic conditions at the harbour. The MFD acting director general, after observing satisfactory hygienic conditions within a week would request the Ministry of Ports and Shipping for allowing further time to FCSL regarding the upgradation of the auction halls.