Chandy govt to review all projects

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF government, following non-partisan validation that the Emerging Kerala Meet had many dubious aspects, lost no time on Wednesday to admit its complicity and, more importantly, take remedial action.

Reacting to TOI's expose on the hare-brained proposal to turn Chandrasekharan Nair stadium, situated on prime real estate in the capital, into a convention centre, chief minister Oommen Chandy declared that the government would screen all projects meant for the investment summit.

"All the projects listed for the proposed event will be removed from the [Emerging Kerala] website and chief secretary K Jayakumar will be screening each one of them right away. Only the projects cleared by him will be now listed for Emerging Kerala,'' he said at a post-cabinet briefing.

"All the projects were put on the website to ensure transparency. But it has led to widespread criticism now," he added.

Apart from the belated screening of proposals, the CM, in deference to the prevailing cynicism on Emerging Kerala, revealed that no MoUs would be signed during the meet. "No MoUs will be signed in the event. It will be a platform to exchange ideas and explore the possibilities for investments. The meet will be just showcasing the investment possibilities in Kerala," he said.

The state cabinet also decided to constitute an investment clearance board headed by the chief secretary which will give final clearance for projects discussed at the meet. These projects will also be analysed by a special cabinet meeting to be held in Kochi on September 13.

Cultural affairs minister K C Joseph, claiming that no minister or bureaucrat in his right mind would have agreed to the stadium proposal in the first place, said, "We will now relook the feasibility of each proposal and bring out proposals that are only feasible for the state.''

On his part, leader of the opposition V S Achuthanandan pointed out how his much-publicised doubts about the summit were being vindicated. "There is complete anarchy regarding the summit now. So the government should scrap the Emerging Kerala summit at the earliest. Projects should be identified which are necessary and practical for the state through discussions and after finding necessary land for them. A meet to invite investors can be held later," he said.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com