Fishing communities live with uncertainty

No life insurance scheme exists for providing monetary assistance to the families of deceased fishermen

KARACHI:

With the arrival of Eid, families from all socioeconomic backgrounds across the nation look forward to celebrating the joyful occasion in the comforting presence of their loved ones yet for many forlorn fishing families in Ibrahim Hydari, bereaving the recent untimely demise of their breadwinning kin during a boat accident at Keti Bandar, the nearing of Eid no longer stirs the same excitement.

Last month, a fishing boat carrying 41 fishermen capsized near Keti Bandar, resulting in the tragic death of 14 fishermen. While the bodies of eight fishermen were recovered on the spot those of the remaining four, which included 26-year-old Sajjad Ali, were found eight days later, in an unidentifiable state.

"This will be our first Eid without Sajjad. I carried his coffin with a stone on my heart, but Sajjad's mother has not been able to process his death. She still believes her son is lost at sea," said 75 year old Usman, Sajjad's father, as he wiped his wet eyes with a dirty cloth while speaking to the Express Tribune.

After regaining his composure, he pointed to the two-year-old girl sitting on his left and revealed that she was Sajjad's only child. The innocent girl, clad in a tattered frock, looked staggeringly at the unfamiliar faces that had walked into her home for the interview.

Sajjad's humble house is located in Ibrahim Hyderi, Karachi's oldest area, which till date has no drinking water facility or sanitation arrangement. At one corner of Sajjad's house, a hearth made of clay had some firewood kept near it. It was a kitchen without a roof, and the women of the house cooked their food under the open sky even during the scorching heat of the day.

"I live in this house with my wife, six children and grandchildren. Before his death Sajjad was in debt. Most fishermen in our community are indebted to big land and boat owners. We resort to fishing for paying off debts," shared Usman.

Sarang, Sajjad's uncle, who himself is a fisherman went on to reveal that fishermen take loans worth Rs100,000 to Rs200,00 from boat owners for big events in their life like marriage or the construction and repair of a home.

"Since a large portion of our earnings goes towards paying off the debt, we bring a very small amount of money back home. Therefore, we have to take more loans and the cycle continues. Being in debt, we cannot refuse the owners of the boat and we have to go fishing even in bad weather and sickness. Every time we go fishing, we try catching as many fish as possible so that we can get a bigger share and pay back more money on the loan. ," said Sarang, who further added that the boat incident which claimed his nephew's life, occurred as a result of overfishing.

"When the boat owners learnt of the death of 14 fishermen, they simply asked us to have patience since no provisions have been made for the life insurance of fishermen by the federal or provincial governments," regretted Sarang.

It is worth mentioning that the Fishermen's Cooperative Society, established under the government of Sindh, offered only a lumpsum of Rs50,000 for the welfare of the families of the deceased.

"It is the responsibility of the Fishermen's Cooperative Society to arrange life insurance for the fishermen," claimed Syed Kamal Shah, a leader of the fishermen.

According to Majeed Motani, President of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Karachi, an organization working for the rights of fishermen, an insurance initiative was launched where each fisherman pays 6.25 per cent of the income from his catch to the Fisherman's Cooperative Society however, the work could not be completed.,

When contacted by the Express Tribune, the current Welfare Officer of the Fishermen's Cooperative Society, Ghulam Rasool Sheikh said, "It is not possible for the Fishermen's Cooperative Society to provide life insurance to thousands of fishermen, therefore it should be managed by boat owners or other self-employed fishermen."

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2024.