Thiruvananthapuram: The Janapaksham people's movement for the Vizhinjam mother port project has alleged a conspiracy behind the December 2008 schedule announced by the Government for commencement of the project.

The executive council of Janapaksham which met here on Saturday said, the construction was deliberately being delayed to help rival ports pick up pace. The council urged the Government to constitute a task force and appoint an IAS officer to coordinate the project. It stressed on the need to accord nodal agency status to the Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited, the special purpose company for the project.

The meeting called for curtailing the time set for the tender formalities and to seek Central clearance for the bidders before opening the tenders. Participants in the meeting observed that the formalities could be completed by December this year, clearing the way for construction activities to begin in January 2008.

Recalling that only two companies had submitted bids during the previous UDF regime despite the sizeable turnout at the investors' meet, they called for a global campaign to sustain the interest in the project.

The meeting called on the Government to formulate a new action plan with a revised schedule.

S. Shooja presided over the meeting. K.C.S. Nair, Wilfred Kulas, T.G. Swaminathan, S. Dominic and Elias John participated.

Source: The Hindu