Chennithala alleges Kerala govt has allowed US company deep sea fishing; Govt says its imaginary

Senior Congress leaderRamesh Chennithala on Friday alleged corruption in anagreement inked by the state-owned KSINC with a US-based firmfor a deep sea fishing project and said it would affect theinterest of fishermen community, a charge rejected as'baseless' by the LDF government.

The Leader of the Opposition in the state assemblyalleged corruption involving Rs 5,000 crore in the agreementwith EMCC International and the company had been allowed deepsea fishing.

''The Kerala government has decided to enter into anagreement with an American company for deep sea fishing. It'sin gross violation of the rights of the fishermen in Kerala.

Without discussing in the Cabinet or the Left front, how canthe government move forward with such a step,'' he asked, at apress meet here.

State Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma asserted theallegations were baseless and devoid of any merit, sayingChennithala was speaking of an ''imaginary contract'' while thegovernment has not allowed deep sea fishing.

The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation(KSINC) has recently inked a pact with EMCC International fora deep sea fishing project worth Rs 2,950 crore.

The project envisages building 400 deep sea fishingtrawlers for fishing communities and port developmentactivities, among others.

Alleging that it was a corrupt deal, Chennithalaappealed to the Pinarayi Vijayan government not to proceedwith the project, saying it will adversely affect lakhs offishermen.

''There is a shortage of fish in the sea. How thegovernment has come into an agreement with an American companyfor deep sea fishing. This is against the interest offishermen. This is a corrupt one and a high-level committeeshould probe the matter,'' he said.

Responding to questions from reporters on Chennithala'scharges, Mercykutty Amma said:''These are baseless allegationsand have no merit. The opposition leader is speaking of animaginary contract. No agreement has been signed by thegovernment to allow fishing by the US firm,'' she added.

The Minister said only the Centre can permit deep seafishing by a foreign company and the state government will nottake any steps affecting the fishermen community.

KSINC will provide technical help and give fullresponsibility to EMCC to build the trawlers. The cost ofbuilding a trawler of international quality and standards wasestimated to be around Rs two crore.

The 400 trawlers to be built will be handed over to thefishermen of the state. The corporation will be building newharbours and renovating the existing ones to accommodate thesetrawlers, considering the shortage of berthing facilities forthese trawlers, she added.