THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has ordered a review of the MoU signed between Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) and US firm EMCC International India Pvt Ltd on deep-sea fishing.The Rs 2,950-crore project had courted a controversy after Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged corruption in the deal.
It is learnt that the chief minister has directed his office to examine the MoU. “The chief minister has called for the file. Further comments can be made only after studying it,” said a senior officer of the CMO. The scrutiny, it is learnt, would cover the legal validity of the agreement and whether it is against the government’s fisheries policy. If the latter is proved, the KSINC management will be held responsible for it.Responding to the allegations, the chief minister had recently hinted that Chennithala accessed certain documents pertaining to the project through KSINC managing director N Prasanth.
The officer was Chennithala’s private secretary when he was the home minister in the previous UDF government. Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma has reportedly sought action against Prasanth. The minister also raised concern over proceeding with the project which may lead to protest by the fisherfolk.
Mercykutty Amma on Sunday alleged a conspiracy between the Opposition leader and EMCC against the LDF government. The minister admitted that she had met EMCC representatives but denied the allegation that she along with the company representatives had met the chief minister.
On Sunday, Chennithala released two more documents -- the MoU signed at ASCEND 2020 and another on the allotment of four acres of land to the US firm at Pallipuram Industrial Growth Centre, Alappuzha. He claimed that the agreement was not signed overnight, but after holding talks for more than three years.