Kochi: Opposition members in the Corporation council on Tuesday alleged that the modern RO-RO (Roll on-Roll off) vessels, commissioned with much fanfare in April in Fort Kochi – Vypeen route, have turned to be a total failure due to poor follow-up and coordination of the civic administration.
Slamming the civic administration for failure of the service, Opposition leader K.J. Antony said during a council meeting that even six months after the commissioning, the full-fledged service could not be launched. “The second vessel – Sethusagar II – has been damaged and docked at Cochin Shipyard for repairing. As per the Corporation’s agreement with Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC), the agency operating the vessels, the profit sharing between the two agencies is on 50-50 basis. However, the civic body is yet to get the profit share till now.”
According to the Opposition leader, it was due to the technical fault in jetty construction that the second vessel’s propeller got damaged. The Cochin Shipyard has informed that the repairing cost will be Rs 20 lakhs.
Deputy mayor T.J. Vinod said the shipping agency has provided details to the civic body. “During the three months from May to June, the RO-RO service registered a profit of Rs 8.35 lakhs while the passenger boat ‘Fort Queen’ in the ferry route earned Rs 33 lakhs in eight months against an expenditure of Rs 47 lakhs,” he said.
Mayor Soumini Jain, while replying to the debate said the Corporation has to provide the repairing cost of Rs 20 lakhs as the ferry service cannot be considered as a profit making business. “It should be considered a social service,” she said.
Opposition stages walkout: The Opposition staged a walkout alleging administrative breakdown in the civic body and failure of the Mayor in providing satisfactory explanation to the issues raised in the council meeting. Implementation of projects, including externally funded ones and the utilisation of Plan funds are progressing on snail’s pace, they said. UDF councillors K.R Premkumar and Antony Painuthara alleged the online services turned to be failure, with no necessary infrastructure facilities and training to officials.
