KOLLAM: Minister for Ports K Babu on Friday said that the issues relating to the Kollam port would be solved at the earliest to utilise the possibilities of the port to the maximum. Inaugurating the workshop organised by the Ports Department on promoting shipping activities at the Kollam port, he said that if needed, more funds would be allotted for the port, in addition to the budget allocation of Rs 7 crore.He said that steps were afoot to install the multi-purpose crane worth Rs 11 crore within four months. The proposal for private partnership, to bring at least 50 ships to the Kollam port a year, is under the consideration of the government, he said. Earlier, the minister and the delegates conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the facilities at the port. Ports officials also made a presentation on the facilities at the port. Mayor Prasanna Earnest presided over the function. District Panchayat president R Gopalakrishna Pillai, District Collector P G Thomas, Ports Director Jacob Thomas and Harbour Chief Engineer N Mohankumar spoke at the function. MPs Peethamabara Kurup and Balagopal addressed the delegates. Around 150 delegates participated in the event.DELEGATES RAISEAPPREHENSIONS While various stakeholders of the shipping industry raised serious apprehensions about the facilities at the port, the Ports Department officials reiterated that the port was ready to receive ships. The workshop proved an eye-opener for the officials, as delegates, including shipping agents and various industry representatives, shared their views on operating cargo ships from the port. Establishment of a Port Trust and installation of a multi-purpose crane were the major demands raised by the delegates. The representatives of the cashew industry, who would be the major beneficiaries of the port, said that they were keen to operate from Kollam port.Cashew Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association general secretary Abdul Salam said that the industry spent around Rs 52 crore annually for bringing imported raw nuts from Kochi and to transport processed kernels back to Kochi or Tuticorin. ‘’If we operate from Kollam port, we estimate that this Rs 52 crore could be brought down to around Rs 5 crore,’’ he said. Addressing mediapersons on the sidelines of the workshop, Salam said: ‘’As many as 35,000 container lorries operate from Kollam to Kochi and Tuticorin in the cashew sector itself. We incur an expense of Rs 13,000 per container and this can be reduced to around Rs 1,000 if operated from Kollam,’’ he said. Shipping agents proposed to operate the port at least as a container freight station similar to the one on Wellignton Island in Kochi. ‘’Vallarpadam is a transshipment port and the container freight station is on Wellington Island. We have to travel almost 27 km to Wellignton Island to file a paper so as to release a container at Vallarpadam. All these strain and stress can be avoided, if we can operate from Kollam,’’ said G Vasantha Kumar, representative of Africa Products Limited. Port officials seemed to have adopted a trial-and-error method to set apace the shipping activities at the port. ‘’Bring ships to the port. We assure that all the facilities will be at place. We will be able to address all the concerns once ships start calling at the port,’’ they said. It seemed the officials did poor homework before inviting shipping agents and industry representatives for such a workshop, as they found it difficult to address the apprehensions raised by the delegates. ‘’The workshop was not a good advertisement for the port that yearns for shipping activities,’’ a delegate said. Meanwhile, trade union representatives told delegates that they were ready to bring down the agreed labour charges to promote shipping activities at the port. They assured that there would not be any labour problem at the port. The port has around 400 headload workers affiliated to various trade unions.
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