A meeting convened by Cochin Port Trust (CPT) Chairperson M. Beena of stakeholders and trade union representatives at the Cochin Fisheries Harbour at Thoppumpady on Monday decided to continue the status quo on revenue collection in the wharf area till February-end. The new arrangement, scheduled to begin on February 15, in which a Mumbai-based private company was awarded the task of toll collection through a competitive bidding process will remain suspended.
Ms. Beena said those who participated in the meeting expressed their apprehensions. Their concerns were being taken into consideration and no unilateral action would be taken by the port authorities, she added.
Fisheries union sources said the Harbour Advisory Board would meet to discuss the issues involved and reach a consensus. Jackson Pollayil of Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation, an independent union representing traditional fishers, said the issues involved building basic infrastructure for harbour operations. Mr. Pollayil, who attended the meeting, said the stakeholders wanted the CPT authorities to address some of the basic issues before a new arrangement was made for revenue collection. The present arrangement engaging CPT employees for toll collection would continue until a consensus was reached, he added.
CPI(M) area secretary K.M. Riyadh said the workers were worried about it being a move to privatise the harbour. However, the port authorities had assured that it was not a privatisation bid and agreed to address the concerns expressed by stakeholders, he added.
CPT authorities had said last week that the controversy over outsourcing revenue collection was the result of a misunderstanding. The port authorities said toll collection was being carried out by the employees. However, a shortage of hands, with people retiring, had forced the port authority to redeploy those in toll collection for core port activities and outsource the revenue collection work to a private enterprise.
The Thoppumpady harbour is a key player in Kerala’s seafood export business and around 50,000 people in Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts depend on harbour operations for a livelihood. It is one of the oldest fishing harbours, established in 1978 under the administration of the CPT as the harbour is located within the port waters. The CPT and the Marine Products Export Development Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding for building a state-of-the art facility in place of the present harbour at a cost of around ₹140 crore.
