Where the state-run institutions could not bring much credit to the country, a local fisherman alone earned much reputation for repairing so far about 17 Iranian fishing and cargo boats at half cost of what the Iranian and Pakistani shipyards are charging.
Resurrecting the slipway after about 17 years at Karachi Fish Harbour, a veteran fisherman, Gulu Mian, successfully carried out boat repairs operation in the span of a year, and repaired about 35 to 40 boats made of fibre and wood. An Italian construction company, Lodjiani, had built the slipway in early 1990s which was the part of the EU's overall fish harbour reconstruction at a cost of Rs 12 million of the then currency unit ECU.
Talking to Business Recorder, Gulu said the slipway which, since its construction, the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority had outsourced to five/three companies who failed to run it, including the Authority itself. "I successfully pulled the wooden and fibre boats to the slipway whereas all previous companies had failed to do so because the wooden boats would sever from the bottom during the pull," he said.
The cost of a boat repair in Iran is 100 percent higher than what he offered, he said, adding that there were several Iranian boats on his waiting list. Iranian boat owners prefer to get their boats revamped in June and July every year. In Dubai, the cost is also higher by tenfold.
However, a little space for boats harbouring always make these foreign clients worried about the boats anchoring charges which KFHA and, according to him, KPT also receive on 24 hours basis. About the boats repairing cost, he said that there are two slabs. Mainly, one is on non-commercial basis and aimed at facilitating the local fishermen who have only to pay the nominal charges of the slipway occupation and spare parts expenses. The other category covers the commercial aspects of the slipway and he charges Rs 20,000 per boat for 24 hours.
He has also hired a sea diver whose job is to wrap the ropes to sling the boat for pulling it to the slipway. Interestingly, the young boy (diver) has no diving gear, not even a simple snorkel, and dives into the black filthy water of the harbour and, without much difficulty, accomplishes his job on regular basis.
Citing an interesting incident, Gulu siad he challenged a well-equipped and trained diver to work in the harbour's black water without any such assistance which the man refused to do so, saying that it was complete death, and how one could find his way beneath this kind of water.
However, the young diver is quite prone to the severe diseases from the harbour's water which the industrial chemical waste has completely poisoned over years, although this fact is still unknown to him. Earlier, five companies got the slipway lease but could not continue operation properly because they did not know about the required equipment at that time, Gulu said.
He said he has received the contract of slipway for Rs 0.35 million on annual basis. He is now seeking renewal of the contract to expand the operation. He appealed to KFHA for expansion of the slipway and suggested that it should be developed like a railway tracks junction to accommodate more boats simultaneously.