Vizhinjam protest against the interest of the country, says Minister

The protest against the Vizhinjam International Seaport, spearheaded by the Latin Archdiocese, Thiruvananthapuram, is against the interests of the nation, Fisheries Minister V. Abdurahiman has said.

The construction was launched in 2015 after a slew of studies mandated by various agencies and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government that came to power in 2016 took forward the project as per the agreement signed by the previous government.

There was no point in now urging the Centre to stall the project after spending crores of rupees, citing the protest by a section, the Minister said. The State government was very sympathetic towards the demands raised by the fishermen. An expert panel was formed as demanded by the protesters to hold a study on the impact of the port project on the shoreline, apart from assuring the protesters that they would be given chances to interact with the expert panel.

In the case of rehabilitation of coastal erosion-hit families, the State government had already started the process to construct 500 houses in two phases at Muttathara. Further, the process to give away rent for the people sheltered in relief camps was under way as agreed by a panel comprising officials from Public Works Department and District Collector, Minister said.

In the case of kerosene, the State government held talks with the Union Minister concerned two times, as the price of kerosene was fixed by the Centre. The State government had already been giving a subsidy of ₹25 per litre. The exchequer required around ₹300-350 crore per year to provide the kerosene subsidy. Enhancing the subsidy further was not a practical solution, as the fishing sector was now switching to petrol and diesel engines, he said.

The State assured the protesters that it would provide a subsidy for switching to petrol and diesel engines, as it was more financially viable both for the State and the fishermen who would then require only half of the current fuel expense, said the Minister.

Further, Kerala was the only State in the country that provided compensation to fishermen on a daily basis when fishing activities were suspended due to rough weather. All these steps taken by the State government underscored its commitment to the fishermen. But despite all these, the protesters had been continuing the stir, stalling the work, which cannot be agreed upon and was against the interest of the country, said Mr. Rahiman.