Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Real estate racket behind GIM, says Cherian Philip

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Jan. 11. The former Congress leader, Cherian Philip, alleged here today that the high profile Global Investor Meet (GIM) was a covert bid to whitewash a major real estate racket.

Talking to presspersons, he said a section of the UDF leadership including Ministers was conspiring with corrupt officials to sell off prime land to private companies at rates far below the market price. "GIM is really a disinvestment mela, rather than an attempt to lure investments," he said.

Mr. Philip said the mad rush for private investments was part of a blueprint prepared by officials. ''A majority of the 40 MoUs signed over the last one year are just a cover up for the real estate racket." He said most of the projects identified for GIM were not designed to boost the productive sector or resolve the unemployment problem.

Mr. Philip said the slew of proposals for construction of shopping complexes and hyper markets across the State was designed to benefit multinational companies at the expense of small traders.

Criticising the Government move to seek private investment for development of ports, Mr. Philip termed it as a covert bid by the U.S. to colonise the State and plunder local resources. He alleged that a section of the bureaucracy in Kerala were CIA agents seeking to safeguard American interests in the region.

He said the Government's refusal to reveal the terms of the GIM proposals exposed the covert nature of the deals. "There is a conscious effort to deny the rights and wage conditions of workers in the name of making the State investor-friendly," he said.

Mr. Philip alleged that Ministers and officials had spent crores of rupees on foreign tours to drum up support for the GIM.

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