The Hindu : Plea to make harbour project operational

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 16, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Plea to make harbour project operational

By Our Staff Reporter

KANNUR FEB. 15. The Ministers and people's representatives from the district have been flayed for their `lack of initiative' to exert pressure on the State Government for making the already commissioned Mappila Bay Harbour Project operational.

The Mapila Bay Fishing Harbour Development Committee, which is preparing to spearhead an agitation over the project, accused the Ministers and people's representatives of taking no follow-up action to keep their assurance that measures would be taken for making the harbour functional.

The committee office-bearers told a press conference here today that the project, which was sanctioned in 1990 and commissioned a few years ago, was yet to be utilised for fishing activities.

While all facilities required for the project had already been completed, it was rendered useless by the authorities by not taking any step for master-dredging the harbour, the committee office-bearers, K. Surendran and Devassi Eerathara, said.

Though an estimated Rs. 11 crores had already been spent for the project, it was yet to benefit fish workers and those working in the allied sectors, they added. An action committee formed under the auspices of the committee had earlier decided to observe a coastal hartal in the district to highlight the demand, they said adding that the hartal call was withdrawn following the assurance of the Kannur MLA and Forest and Sports Minister, K. Sudhakaran.

The assurance was also repeated when the committee members had met Mr. Sudhakaran, the Fisheries Minister, K.V. Thomas, the Minister for Ports, M.V. Raghavan, and senior officials in the capital on the issue. The main decision in their discussions with the Ministers and officials was that either a master dredger from Neendakara would be brought here for dredging the harbour basin or the dredging work would be entrusted to the Dredging Corporation. But no steps had been taken to implement that, they said. Instead, the authorities gave contract for removing the sand from the basin using a sand-pipe, they said. They also alleged that corruption was involved in granting the contract for a work.

The committee would renew its plans to organise an agitation to highlight the demand for utilising the project, they said.

The authorities were turning a blind eye to the project, which would directly benefit nearly 25,000 fish workers in the region. An estimated 500 boats could utilise the berthing and auction facilities of the harbour once it was operational, they said.

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