The fishermen community in Mubarak Village, Keamari Town, has appealed to the government to extend the scope of the housing scheme, launched for the downtrodden section of society, to the fishermen living in Karachi, as they are living in abject poverty.
Referring to the recent announcement that the government would construct 10,000 low-cost houses in Keti Bundar, Larkana, Nawabshah, Jacobabad and Khairpur under the scheme, elders of the community told Business Recorder that their community in Karachi had always been ignored by the government although fishermen contribute considerable foreign exchange earned through exports of marine resources.
They said the housing scheme was being launched under the Banazir Bhutto Housing Program, which is meant for all poor citizens of the country. They insisted that the fishermen community fully deserves to benefit from the program as the state of their villages in Karachi and other parts of the province reflected its pitiful economic status.
They said the government should construct 300 low-cost houses in fishermen villages as it intended to provide as many houses in every district. An elder of the community in Mubarak Village, Mohammad Haroon, appealed to the government to include his village, along with other fishermen villages in Karachi, among the beneficiaries of the housing scheme. Other community elders said that the government should come out with some welfare scheme that could help the community improve the quality of life of its members.