The Sindh government has earmarked funds to develop Karachi fisheries harbour and upgrade its key facilities, Sindh Senior Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Khuhro told provincial legislature on Friday. The minister, who also holds education ministry's portfolio, told Sindh Assembly during a question answers session that a proper legislation was needed to ban the use of thin-sized fishing nets at the provincial seat that had been a cause of overexploitation of fisheries resources.
He said that the EU had lifted a ban in 2013 imposed on Pakistan's seafood export to its markets in 2007. Pakistan's seafood trade share was $367 million in 2013-14 with exporting 56,000 metric tons of the food. He told the legislators that the government had made several efforts to improve the quality of seafood export to the world markets. The government upgraded the fishing boats that also helped the fishermen. To a question, he said that the owners had themselves equipped some 70 percent of fishing boats with a VHF system to communicate inland from deep sea.
There were around 50 deep sea rescue operations, he informed the house, saying that there had been no incidents reported. He said that the fisheries harbour had no wireless communication network connecting the officials and fishermen during their fishing hunt in deep sea. On a call attention notice of PML-N's Surath Thebo, he denied that the PPP-led Sindh government had purchased a helicopter for the chief minister. He said the provincial government had one that had been purchased during Jam Saddiq Ali's rule in 1991-92. Age of the chopper has expired and a new one is needed to replace it, he added.
The plane that the Sindh government possesses had been purchased by the former Chief Minister Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim, Khuhro said, and denied any misappropriation of Rs 660 million of fund in a project of Shah Abdul Bhittai University. Replying to the PTI's Dr Seema Zia, he said that the government would soon start bio-metric system for all of its employees. Funds will shortly be made available, he said.
A resolution on the Bol TV was also passed unanimously, asking the federal government to reinstate the suspended license of the private channel allowing it to resume its operations. The legislators said that the federal government's move to suspend the TV channel operations also left 2000 employee jobless. They said that a case that was before the court on Axact had nothing to do with the Bol TV.