The Cochin Port Joint Trade Union Forum has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revive commercial activities on Willingdon Island, which used to be the hub of business in the city, through “creative plans for revival, diversification, and re-construction” so as to improve business, enhance port revenue and protect workers and their families through employment generation.
The forum, in its memorandum to Mr. Modi, said the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) was established after around 1,500 workers sacrificed their job opportunities at the erstwhile Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal. There is hope that new opportunities will come through ICTT. But there is disappointment now, and Willingdon Island is like a desert with no active port operations though there is great potential.
Forum leaders P.M. Mohammed Haneef and C.D. Nandakumar appealed to the Prime Minister to support the port authority by taking a more considerate view of the expenses incurred for maintenance dredging for the Vallarpadam ICTT. Deepening of the shipping channel through yearly maintenance works is expensive and has proved a great financial burden on the port. Considering the situation “we urge the Prime Minister to take a lenient view of the matter, and budgetary support may kindly be granted for the expenses incurred by the Cochin Port for maintenance dredging,” the memorandum said.
The trade unions also pointed out that when in 2013 the Cochin Port Workshop and dry dock were handed over to Cochin Shipyard Limited, there were 231 employees’ in various categories who were absorbed as part of the agreement between the management and trade unions. But now, the number of employees has dwindled to 49.
The union leaders said the time lapse for commissioning the facility had resulted in revenue loss for the Cochin Port. At the same time, the unions conceded that some delay might have been caused by the pandemic and stoppage of work by the contracting companies.
