In a rare display of unanimity on the floor of the Assembly, the government and the Opposition have declared that they would work together to find a way out of the impasse into which the Vizhinjam container transhipment project has fallen, according to the newspaper The Hindu.
On its part, the government made it clear that it would press ahead with the project only after consulting the Opposition.
The Vizhinjam project, which got caught in a logjam following the revocation of its tender bid by Hyderabad-based Lanco Kondappally-led consortium, citing possible delay and legal hurdles, was the subject of an adjournment motion sought to be moved by the Opposition. A 45-minute-long mini-discussion on the issue saw leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy offering full support to any effort by the government to break the current impasse and his call to the government to take it as a challenge and complete the project in five years.
Rising to the occasion, Ports Minister M. Vijayakumar said the government would certainly hear what the Opposition had to say on the subject before taking any further measure in the matter.
The House also heard P.C. George (Kerala Congress-Secular), who had sought to move the adjournment motion, calling upon the government to implement the project through a public limited company on the lines of Cochin International Airport.
Vijayakumar who, at one point mooted the idea of the project being taken up by the Centre, said the State was faced with a curious situation of the agency that had won the bid deciding to back out and the one that wanted to take it up being disqualified.
However, George alleged that the delay in the implementation of the project had also to do with the government¡¯s inept handling of the whole affair and its decision to go to the Supreme Court against the decision of a division bench of the Kerala High Court seeking evaluation of the detailed bid from Zoom Developers which had lost out to the Lanco Kondappally-led consortium earlier.
The MLA also alleged that the government had delayed a decision on the court direction for re-evaluation of Zoom Developers¡¯ tender documents with ulterior motives.
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Source: cargonewsasia
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