Kerala's Vizhinjam Port: Latin church alleges only 60% work completed, celebrations just 'eyewash'

Thiruvananthapuram: The Latin church in Kerala has expressed reservations about the ongoing celebrations surrounding the first ship's arrival at the Vizhinjam international port here, claiming that only 60 per cent of the work has been completed.

A senior church priest also described the festivities as an "attempt to mislead" the public.

The church, which had been at loggerhead with the authorities over the construction of the deep-water international port, wondered why the government was celebrating the bringing up of a crane, which is just one of the 44 basic infrastructure requirements of the port.

Latin Archdiocese Vicar General, Fr Eugene Pereira, an arch critic of the Vizhinjam port project, said only 60 per cent work was completed and not even the construction of 'pulimutt' (groynes) was finished.

It means ships are not going to arrive at Vizhinjam the next day, as propagated, he told reporters here.

"Why are celebrations being organised to mark the arrival of a crane? I don't understand the reason behind the move. The local fishermen community in Vizhinjam also questioned this," Fr Pereira said.

The Vicar General's remarks came at a time when the state government had informed that the mammoth container handling cranes onboard a ship would be transferred to the port on October 15, in an official event that would be attended by Union Minister for Ports Sarbananda Sonowal and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

As the state was reeling under an acute financial crisis, such a celebration to mark the arrival of a crane was something unheard of, Pereira added.

Though the fishermen community in Vizhinjam and other nearby hamlets decided to observe Sunday as 'black day' and 'deception day', the church has discouraged them from holding protests.

Accusing the government of including the names of the archbishop and other church representatives in Sunday's programme without their consent, Pereira said it was an attempt to mislead people and create divisions in the society.

But, he made it clear that the church didn't direct anyone not to participate in the programme.

The programme was just an 'eyewash,' the priest charged.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress slammed the CPI(M)-led government in the state over the Vizhinjam port, saying the Left party and Chief Minister Vijayan opposed the multi-crore project when the previous UDF government first came up with it years ago.

Vijayan had levelled allegations of corruption and real estate business behind the signing of the Vizhinjam port project when the previous Oommen Chandy government went ahead with it, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan recalled in a Facebook post today.

He also charged the Vijayan government with 'sabotaging' the rehabilitation package for fishermen announced by the Chandy government as part of the port project.

The LoP also said that the real credit for the Vizhinjam project goes to former CM Chandy and not Pinarayi Vijayan.

The first ship that arrived at Vizhinjam port here carrying cranes from China was accorded a water salute by the tug boats which pulled the vessel into the Rs 7,700 crore deep-water international port on Thursday.

The vessel -- Zhen Hua 15 -- which began its journey from China at the end of August was scheduled to dock at Vizhinjam on October 4, but its journey got delayed due to bad weather conditions along its route.

The Vizhinjam port is being constructed under the public-private partnership model. Adani Group is the private partner in the development of Vizhinjam port, which is going to be one of the largest ports in the world once commissioned.

The project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, got delayed due to several issues related to land acquisition.

Vizhinjam had witnessed violent protests as fishermen in the area opposed the project, alleging that the port could adversely affect their livelihood.