At no time in the past has the Kerala government evaded talks to find an amicable settlement to contentious issues that plague the Vizhinjam port and trans-shipment container project, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the State Assembly on Tuesday. Replying to an adjournment motion, he was apparently addressing accusations that the government had refused to engage protesters effectively in time..

Accords maximum priority

The Opposition Congress had alleged that negligence on the part of the administration had led to violent incidents at the port site more than a week ago. But the Chief Minister said the government accords maximum priority to the ₹7,500-crore project being developed by Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd. Work on the project was forcibly brought to a halt by agitating fishermen owing allegiance to the clergy of the Latin Archdiocese, Thiruvananthapuram. This was after protests commenced on August 16 at the project site, the Chief Minister said, while recalling the dairy of events,

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Cabinet panels hold talks

A cabinet sub-committee had called the Vizhinjam Action Committee, at the helm of the protests, for talks on August 19. Repeat talks were held on September 5 and 25. Back channel talks between the two sides were also held. The action committee had put forward seven demands, five of which were settled during talks with the cabinet sub-committee. The latter had later agreed to a fresh study into the aggravated coastal erosion allegedly triggered by the port breakwater. The Chief Minister, however, said the government could not agree to the seventh demand to stop the port works permanently. 

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‘Other forces at work’ 

Vijayan also told the Assembly every time the talks came close to a negotiated settlement, they were diverted with an intent to bring matters to a head. This had led him as well as well-meaning people to suspect that ‘some other forces’ were working behind the scenes to serve vested interests. The Chief Minister also recalled the statement of the Ports Minister in the erstwhile Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government, who had originally approved the project, that it would request the Centre to look into issues at Vizhinjam to determine if an international lobby was egging on protests at the work site. 

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