Kerala Opposition Leader opens up more corruptions by Pinarayi government

Kerala Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala reveals another corruption by the Pinarayi government. This time he alleges that there was corruption in the contract with EMCC, an American multinational company, for deep-sea fishing on the Kerala coast. The Rs 5,000 crore contract was signed at the Global Investors Meet Ascent 2020 in Kochi.

He said, “Kerala's fisheries are valuable. The Left government in Kerala has signed an agreement to share our fisheries and seas to an American company, EMCC International Pvt Ltd, a US-based multinational company, for deep-sea fishing in the Kerala Sea.”

The agreement in question was signed between the Kerala government and EMCC International last week. The project involves fishing with 400 state-of-the-art deep-sea trawlers, five state-of-the-art fishing vessels and nets that can be shifted to the bottom of the sea.

He claims that all political parties have opposed engaging foreign companies with huge ships in our seas for fishing purposes. However, the Pinarayi government has turned a blind eye to the issue and decided to open the Kerala coast to big monopolies. The Opposition Leader further added that it is suspected that crores of rupees have been embezzled in this transaction.

It is a known fact that currently the fisheries sector in Kerala and traditional fishermen are facing a severe crisis. The availability of fish is very low. Studies show that fisheries in almost all major seas have dried up as a result of the uncontrolled deep-sea fishing activities of large monopolies. On this background, the Kerala government is allowing giant companies to plunder the remaining fisheries in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, claims Ramesh Chennithala.

The Opposition Leader claims that the agreement was signed without any discussion between the LDF and the Cabinet. Chennithala alleged that there was more corruption than Sprinkler and E-mobility and minister J Mercykutty Amma had held discussions with the representatives of EMCC in New York in 2018. While addressing the gathering at Kollam as part of UDF’s Aishwarya Kerala Yathra, Chennithala said that the contract in question needs to be investigated and the LDF should clarify whether they were aware of the agreement.

He further said that the KSU activists, who attended the protests by PSC candidates in front of the Secretariat, were beaten by the police for no reason. He also said that the Chief Minister was insulting the youth who were struggling to survive without a job.