Seaplane project: Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise to Oommen Chandy, says K Sudhakaran

KOCHI: KPCC president K Sudhakaran said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise to former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for sabotaging the seaplane project introduced by the Oommen Chandy government several years ago.

"The CPM, which sabotaged the seaplane project introduced by the Oommen Chandy government, is now implementing the same project as its own 10 years later. Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise for causing a delay of 11 years and a loss of Rs 14 crore," Sudhakaran said.

"While the Pinarayi government is celebrating the test flight of the seaplane service from Kochi to Mattupetty, yet another dream of Oommen Chandy has become a reality one and a half years after his demise. Oommen Chandy had flagged off India's first seaplane project in June 2013 at Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam. However, the CPM opposed the project and staged a protest using fisherfolk, even refusing to allow the plane to land in Alappuzha. Thus, the seaplane project became one among the many projects to get shelved due to the opposition of the CPM," he said.

"The seaplane of the Sea Bird company was confiscated by the bank in 2019. The state government had spent Rs 14 crore for a floating jetty, waterdrome and speedboat. Later, states such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka successfully implemented the seaplane project," he said.

"The CPM, which initially opposed Kerala's dream projects such as Vizhinjam International Seaport, Kannur Airport, Kochi Metro, and Kochi Smart City, later changed their stance and went on to claim credit for these projects. It is now repeating the same dirty politics in the case of the seaplane project as well. Kerala has suffered severe economic loss and development stagnation because of the CPM's policy of injecting politics into development," Sudhakaran added.