THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second round of talks between state government and representatives of Vizhinjam protestors failed to reach a consensus. The government conveyed to the protesters that the port work would not be stopped. The church representatives responded that the protest will continue. They expressed hope that there would be talks with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan soon.
Transport Minister Antony Raju, Fisheries Minister V Abdurahiman, and district collector Geromic George attended the meeting on behalf of the government. The 10-member church delegation was led by Vicar General of the Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese, Eugine H Pereira, and convenor of the protest, Theodacious D’Cruz.
The church representatives expressed displeasure over the comments made by the chief minister who alleged that the protest was orchestrated by outsiders, in the assembly on Tuesday. The transport minister tried to pacify the church leaders saying that the statements made by the chief minister were not deliberate. The protestors on Wednesday breached the police barricade in front of the port site at Mullur and hoisted the flag of the church, as a repeat of the protest on Tuesday.
The protest was led by laity from Kannamthura, Kochuthoppu and Valiyathoppu. The protestors took objection to police trying to note down the vehicle numbers at the protest site. The protest will be entering the tenth day on Thursday.
The protestors had demanded the government to stop port construction and study its ecological impact by involving coastal people, provide fair compensation and rehabilitation for loss of property and houses, compensation for fishermen who lost work days due to adverse weather warnings, ensuring smooth navigation at Muthalapozhi harbour, provide subsidised kerosene as done in Tamil Nadu, rent-free accommodation for people who lost houses, and rehabilitation of families affected by sea erosion.
The government has agreed on rehabilitating the coastal communities affected by sea erosion. A cabinet sub-committee that met on Monday decided to allocate 10 acres of land at Muttathara near the coast for rehabilitation. There will be a separate meeting to discuss rehabilitation on August 27.
The representatives of the church held discussions with the transport minister and fisheries minister in the first round of talks held on August 19. But they decided to continue the stir as the government did not offer any concrete solutions to their demands.