Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has stirred up a hornets’ nest by stating that the controversial palm oil import decision was ill-advised.
In a surprising revelation about the 1992 palmolein scam, Mr Jiji Thomson said that he had written a disagreement note on the file for importing palmolein from Malayasia during the time of the K. Karunakaran-led government.
“My stand was that selecting a company without going for a global tender was wrong,” he said while attending a face-to-face programme at the Press Club here.
He also said he had apprised the government of his apprehensions on the light metro project.
Mr Thomson, who was the managing director of the Civil Supplies Corporation when palmolein was imported, said, “I have been facing a case for the past 25 years even though I had written a disagreement note. I had to accept it as an official,” he said.
His statement is contrary to the stand of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy that the deal had brought a profit of Rs 8.5 crore to the state.
Mr Thomson said that, however, once a decision was taken by the government on the issue, it was his duty to stand by it.
“The same is the case with the light metro project. Though I have apprehensions about giving the project to a single entity without a global tender, it is for the government to take a final decision on the matter,” Mr Thomson said.
