Boat modification: owners to pay only 25 percent of total cost

With a view to speed up the boat modification process and financially disburden the fishing boat owners, the Sindh government will now pay 75 percent of the total cost and ask the owners to pay only 25 percent once their boats are modified in line with the EU specifications.
Sources in the fisheries sector told Business Recorder on Friday that previously the boat owners had to pay 25 percent of the total cost before the start of boat modification. While, the Sindh government had to share the cost also by 25 percent in advance and pay the remaining 50 percent after the work completion.
Later when boat owners insisted on paying the amount once their boats are modified because of their financial constraints, the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department after holding several meetings with all stakeholders decided that Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) will now pay 50 percent of the amount in advance, they pointed out.
The other reasons, according to the sources, was the slow pace of boat modification, which caused primarily by the lack of interest from the boat owners. The government observed that the work had not been up to the mark. However, KFHA has been assigned to get an undertaking of boat owners on a Rs 100 stamp paper to ensure his share of 25 percent at the time they will receive the boat.
PC-I has been revised of the rehabilitation and renovation of Karachi Fish Harbour as per EU standards costing Rs 206.625 million, sources said. The Sindh government is making all out efforts to complete the boat modification process as early as possible so that the EU persistent ban on the country's seafood export could be removed, they said.
The EU imposed a ban on Pakistan's seafood import in April 2007 by delisting the country's 11 exporting seafood processing plants, which continues to date for non-modification of boats and seafood traceability issue. Only nine big fishing boats so far have been modified by the Sindh government. The Marine Fisheries Department (MFD) had also been assigned to carry out modification process but failed to compete it, which the government had to abolish eventually.
However now KFHA has taken several steps to improve the harbour overall conditions including up-gradation of auction hall, making of a master plan, boat modification process, installing of modern equipment's etc. Fishermen and boat owners besides seafood exporters have been criticising the Federal and Sindh governments for failing to take concrete steps to dispel the EU impression of the seafood handling at harbour and ensure the implementation of global hygienic standards there.