The Kochi Corporation has rejected the government suggestion to permit the person who was running Kokker’s theatre in Fort Kochi to take the holding on lease again.
A meeting of the Corporation on Friday decided to go ahead with its plan to take back possession of the holding and set up a cinema and cultural complex there.
Incidentally, the civic body had obtained the rights of the property after a protracted legal battle. A team led by Mayor Soumini Jain had locked up the building after winning the legal battle, which lasted a few years.
Elaborating on the plans of the civic body, Ms. Jain said the Corporation would complete the formalities for taking possession of the 56 cents which was given on lease decades ago. A proposal for setting up a cinema complex there was also included in the annual budget presented last year, she added.
The suggestion from the Local Self-Government Department of the Left Democratic Front government to hand over the theatre again on lease to the person from whom the civic body had won the holding had put the CPI(M)-led Opposition in the council on the back foot. The LDF, which had been vociferously demanding that the holding shall be re-possessed from the lessee, had also criticised the civic administration for what they termed as the delay in taking over the land.
With the civic administration making its intentions clear, LDF leaders K.J. Antony and K.J. Prakashan suggested that the Corporation should take all precautions to ensure that the holding was fully vested with the local body. The Mayor suggested that the civic body shall invite a national bid for setting up a multiplex and cultural centre there after settling the financial deals with the lessee.
