KOCHI: Indicating that the state government is ready for talks with the Latin Catholic Church which is spearheading the anti-port agitation at Vizhinjam, Industries Minister P Rajeeve on Sunday invited Kochi Bishop Joseph Kariyil to visit the site for a better understanding of the situation.
“The government wants to settle the issue,” he said while delivering the keynote address at the Christian Service Society silver jubilee mahasangamam held at Marine Drive in Kochi. Rajeeve made the offer after the bishop raised the Vizhinjam issue in his presidential address. Kariyil alleged that human rights are being violated in the coastal village.
In reply to this, the industries minister said that the LDF government was not against the coastal people.
“The first minister-level meeting held in my office was to discuss the Chellanam issue. The government allocated `344 crore for the tetrapod project to save the fragile coastline of Chellanam. The tetrapod seawall erected along the coast ensured the safety of residents and during the past monsoon, they slept well without the fear of sea erosion,” he said.
Rajeeve added that the government has planned a project for the protection of coastal areas in the Vypeen region too. “We have not changed our stand in the Vizhinjam project. We opposed a few things in the agreement signed during the Oommen Chandy government. During their regime, the then ports minister K Babu had said in the assembly that he suspects that some forces with vested interests are attempting to sabotage the project,” Rajeeve said.
The Mahasangamam, held to observe the Latin Catholic Day, turned into a venue for a debate on the Vizhinjam issue. MP Shashi Tharoor who was a special invitee, reached the function after Rajeeve left the venue. Tharoor, who hailed the Latin Catholic community for its contribution towards the development of the state, aired a note of confidence that the ongoing issue will be settled soon.
“Talks will be held again on Monday and I hope the issue will be settled,” he said. “We can agree to all demands of the protesters except stopping the ongoing construction work. Crores of rupees, which is the money collected as tax from the people, have already been spent on the project. At a time when the government is attempting to levy a fine for the delay that occurred in the completion of the project, we cannot demand that the construction be stopped,” he added. MPs Hibi Eden and A M Ariff, MLA T J Vinod, Archbishop of Verapoly Joseph Kalathiparambil, among others, attended.