Resumption of ro-ro services still in limbo

A stop-gap arrangement seems to be the best solution to have emerged on Wednesday to the vexed issue of roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) service.

Having written to the Kochi Corporation, saying that the resumption of the full-fledged service of the two ro-ro vessels might take around three weeks, the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) has volunteered to operate the service for around eight hours from Monday, despite having placed a signboard at Fort Kochi announcing that the service would resume on May 10.

KSINC sources said the services of the only experienced driver at its disposal could be made available for eight hours from Monday if the corporation was open to the proposal.

On other occasions, KSINC’s existing jhankar can be used, they added.

The agency is obviously not willing to risk safety by deploying inexperienced hands to operate the highly advanced vessels. It has called for training of at least three weeks for the crew even as it bemoans the lack of experts to impart training.

All-party meeting

Having witnessed tumultuous scenes over the issue at the special council meeting last Saturday, Mayor Soumini Jain does not want to be seen as taking unilateral decisions and has decided to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the future course of action in the wake of the letter from KSINC. The civic body had given KSINC time till Tuesday to inform when the service could be resumed.

A steering committee meeting has also been scheduled. The matter will be placed before the council only after discussions at the two meetings.

However, it is learnt that the civic body has backed off from any move to spike the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it had inked with KSINC for the operation of ro-ro services. The civic body is under the impression that the request for three weeks’ time to impart training to crew is proof enough of the agency’s confidence in its ability to operate the service.

The corporation also does not want to be seen as backing out of an agreement with a government agency and remains optimistic of a positive outcome.