However, Mercykutty denied the allegation of any such meeting and said that Chennithala has lost his bearings as he came out with this project on Friday.
Pinarayi Vijayan
Trouble seems to be mounting for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government after the Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday came out with a picture of a meeting between the state’s Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty and a US-based firm on a proposed project of handing over the deep-sea fishing in the state to the latter.
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However, Mercykutty denied the allegation of any such meeting and said that Chennithala has lost his bearings as he came out with this project on Friday.
“On Friday, both Mercykutty and the state’s Industries Minister EP Jayarajan replied that they are not aware of any such company. Now I have released this picture of Mercykutty having discussions and will be releasing two more documents, which say that a four-acre plot of land was handed over to this US firm. If needed I will release the meeting pictures between Mercykutty and those US officials,” the Opposition leader said.
Chennithala said the precious fisheries wealth of Kerala has been handed over on a platter to a US firm—Emcc, which has operations in India.
“The present Left government has cheated the hapless fisher-folk who eke out their living by engaging in fishing. If we hadn’t found out about this, everything would have been given to this US firm. All I know is that this would not have happened without the knowledge of Vijayan. The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) has been a key player in this project and none should forget its chairman Tom Jose, who was also the former chief secretary,” he said.
Rs 2 crore
Amount the state is said to use to purchase 400 mechanised deep-sea trawlers
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