THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Additional Secretary P Honey’s telephonic statement has added fuel to the controversies in the secretariat fire. After the blaze he spoke to the channels and said the “files were set ablaze” and soon he rectified his statement and said that was a slip of the tongue. P Honey holds the charge of housekeeping in the Public Administration Department and is also the president of the secretariat employees association. P Honey told Kerala Kaumudi Flash that he corrected the statement the very next second and when all channels were ready to accept the correction only a particular channel highlighted that. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala also took over the statement.

Honey said, “I am in charge of the housekeeping section in the secretariat. I reached the spot when I came to know about the fire. If required I could have sent someone else to the spot. As the secretary was in quarantine I was entrusted with the charge. As I was holding that responsibility I talked to the media when they approached me. When the news of the fire came out, the media asked my response. I haven’t responded to anyone officially. That was a slip of the tongue. Being the association leader I never talked to the media about the association matters and I don’t even participate in any channel discussions.” He also said that through the media he came to know that the CPM leaders have harshly criticised him for putting the government in trouble by giving such a statement.