A remark about Corporation Mayor A.K. Premajam by councillor K. Mohammedali created an uproar in the council during the budget session on Tuesday.
The council was discussing the budget for the financial year 2015-16 presented by Deputy Mayor and Finance standing committee chairman P.T. Abdul Latheef on Monday.
The issue
Councillor Zakariah P. Hussain’s speech exceeded the allotted time.
His request for more time led to some arguments. Mr. Mohammedali made some comments which criticised the conduct of the Mayor. This enraged the Left Democratic Front councillors and heated arguments ensued. Ms. Premajam suspended the proceedings and left the council hall.
The councillors held an hour-long negotiation with the Mayor seeking resumption of the session.
Mr. Mohammedali apologised in the council and withdrew his comment.
During the discussion, Opposition councillors said the budget was mostly ‘old wine in a new attractive bottle.’ They said some of the projects were initiated by the previous council and the Corporation could not complete it.
Many councillors sought a further increase in the ward fund, fixed at Rs.2 lakh in the present budget.
Allocation sought
Councillor Baburaj said an additional Rs.1 crore should be allotted for the Clean Kozhikode project.
Councillor Vidya Balakrishnan said the awards for cleanliness, which the Corporation had recently received, were meaningless as the city lacked a waste management plan. Garbage was being dumped on the wayside, she said.
Ms. Balakrishnan sought a status report on projects such as Food on Wheels and multilevel parking at Palayam.
The discussions would continue on Wednesday. Amendments, if any, would be incorporated at the end of the session, sources said.
