Karachi  : Alleging that Korangi Fish Harbour Authority Managing Director SM Tariq is giving contracts to his blue-eyed persons, Private Mills and Factory Association President Muhammad Noman Bashir has requested the Sindh Fisheries Department and Chief Justice Sindh High Court to take immediate notice and remove the MD from his post.

Addressing a press conference here, Noman said the MD had sold industrial plots at throw-away prices. “At present, seven private companies are working in the fisheries. Due to uncalled for interference by the MD, businesses of these companies are suffering, and several factories have been shut down,” he elaborated.

He said that yesterday, his company’s driver, Owais Ahmad, was barred from entering the premises of Fisheries, notwithstanding the fact that he possessed all the relevant documents and had obtained special permission. “Not only that, but he was also subjected to torture, and later an FIR was registered against him, in which clauses of Section 452 were inserted,” he said, adding, “All this was unfair.” He added that registration of an FIR conveyed the impression that the MD deemed Fisheries his property. “It is feared that if the same behaviour persists, more factories may be closed down,” he apprehended.

Noman said although Ministry of Ports and Shipping had removed him from his post owing to several complaints against him, however, SM Tariq managed to get a stay order from the court.