Govt reconstitutes KFHA board

Board's term had ended in 2015; earlier efforts went in vain

ISLAMABAD:

The government has reconstituted the board of directors of Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority (KFHA), Karachi after a long gap of five years.

The term of KFHA board had ended on February 28, 2015 during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. Efforts were made at that time to reconstitute the board but to no avail. Now, the board has been reconstituted after a hiatus of five years.

During the PML-N government's tenure, the Prime Minister's Office had given directives for consulting the commerce ministry before reconstituting the KFHA board.

However, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs argued that consultation with the Ministry of Commerce and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) for hiring the KFHA board chairman would not have any meaningful benefit as only the maritime affairs ministry could identify the most suitable candidate for the post.

The Maritime Affairs Division informed the cabinet in a recent meeting that KFHA was established in 1982 under Section 4 of the Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority Ordinance 1982.

The objective of setting up the entity was to plan, construct, operate and manage the fish harbour in a bid to exploit fishery resources of Pakistan.

Section 6(1) of the ordinance says the KFHA board will consist of not less than seven members and not more than 11 members.

Accordingly, under Section 6(2), the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, with approval of the prime minister, notified composition of the board of directors through a notification on March 1, 2012 for a period of three years, which expired on February 28, 2015.

A summary for the board's reconstitution was submitted to the Prime Minister's Office in 2015. In response, the PM Office issued directives, saying the Ministry of Maritime Affairs should propose a new name for the board chairman, preferably from the private sector, in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce/FPCCI, and re-examine and resubmit a fresh panel of private sector members, who could contribute to revitalising the authority.

Subsequently, another summary was sent to the prime minister in 2017 in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce. It was returned by the Establishment Division with the directives to forward the summary to the cabinet in light of instructions of the Cabinet Division regarding appointment of board of directors of public sector organisations.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs recommended that Captain (Retd) Muhammad Rizwan Khan, businessman and social worker; Agha Arsallan Khan, Director and Founder of Borgata, Pakistan/member of UK-Pak Chamber of Commerce; and Tehmasp H Baig, MD Allya International Fisheries (Private) Limited may be hired as private sector members of the KFHA board.

Moreover, Captain (Retd) Muhammad Rizwan Khan may be nominated as the board chairman.

In view of the above, the sponsoring ministry proposed reconstitution of the KFHA board with immediate effect for the next three years (2020-22) under Section 6(2) of the ordinance.

The cabinet approved Rizwan Khan as the board chairman from the private sector. It also approved other nominations as members of the board.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2020.

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