‘Paying compensation to a company violating contract is corruption'; reclaim land from TECOM, says Chennithala

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala came to the fore against TECOM, a major partner of Kochi Smart City project. They deceived the people of Kerala by promising them jobs. While talking to the media in New Delhi, Chennithala alleged that there is mystery in giving compensation to the company despite violating the contract and that there is corruption.

‘I want to tell the industries minister that 206 acres of land should be taken back from the TECOM company as soon as possible in the event that all the conditions of the lease agreement have been violated. There is no obstacle to that. Anyone who examines the agreement will understand that. Why has the government not taken action on the issue yet? Instead, the decision to pay compensation to the company that violated the conditions is corruption. After the land is taken back from the company, what should be done with it should be decided through discussions.

TECOM deceived Kerala by promising jobs to 90,000 people. There is also a mystery in the inclusion of Baji George, who was the MD of this company, in the committee discussing compensation. Therefore, the government should cancel the cabinet meeting decision as soon as possible. The property and land should be taken back as per the lease agreement and other conditions.’

The government, which has not moved for years despite the failure of the Dubai company TECOM in implementing the Smart City project, had earlier indicated that the promise of a large company from Kerala was behind the taking back of the leased land. IT sources say that this group has expressed interest in Smart City. The initial understanding in the discussions with them is to take back the leased land.

Although there is a provision in the agreement to take back the leased land by paying the share price of TECOM, the government is moving to give compensation. The agreement states that if the conditions are not met, the lease agreement will be cancelled and the land will be taken back by paying the share price to TECOM. The government has decided to provide compensation to TECOM by calculating the investment. This is to avoid delay in taking back the land.

The aim is to revive the project as soon as possible in collaboration with a new company. The opposition, including the government, has alleged that there is mystery in the decision of the cabinet to take back the land. There is also a strong demand to hand it over to Infopark. Although the demand to take back the land was raised years ago, the government had not responded.

When V S Achuthanandan was the chief minister, TECOM made a serious lapse in complying with the provisions of the agreement signed in 2011 by laying the foundation stone on November 16, 2007. The promised construction or employment was not ensured. Even the board of directors’ meetings were not held properly.