THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala is in no mood to relent on the deep sea fishing fiasco. A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out against the Opposition, Chennithala hit back, saying if not for the opposition, he would have gone ahead with the project.
He maintained that despite the LDF government cancelling the MoU with US firm EMCC International India Private Limited, it is still dilly-dallying on the issue. Talking to reporters at Indira Bhavan, Chennithala also sought fisheries minister J Mercy Kutty Amma's clarification following media reports that she had seen the controversial file twice.
Chennithala has challenged the Chief Minister to reveal the file details pertaining to the deep sea fishing contract. He maintained that the Chief Minister is angry as the Opposition had thwarted the controversial contract on the deep sea fishing project.
On the day when All India Fishermen Congress chairman T N Prathapan MP kicks off his northern leg of the coastal yatra from Kasaragod, Chennithala took a dig at the Chief Minister's claim that it was N Prasanth, his former private secretary and the incumbent managing director of Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation, who had given him the details on the Rs 5000 crore deal, and revealed the identity of his source.
"During the course of my "Aishwarya Kerala Yatra" at Alappuzha at the Listening Programme, it was Jackson Pollayil, president, Kerala Swathantra Malsya Thozhilali Federation, who shared the details on the MoU between the US firm and KSINC. He warned of a stalemate in the coastal sector owing to the MoU for 400 trawlers and five mother ships. I expressed surprise as this was not known to anyone. The EMCC representatives have not met me. Will they come and demand that I should jeopardize their Rs 5000 crore contract?" said Chennithala.
When the state would be going to the polls in 37 days, Chennithala warned the LDF government that the “sons of the sea” would give a fitting reply to them for jeopardizing the coastal wealth.