Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday alleged that the latest rip off by the Pinarayi Vijayan government, which has just a few more months left in office, is a project of the Overseas Keralites Investment & Holding (OKIH) which is nothing but handing over government land to private players.
Chennithala told the media that OKIH is a company formed with 74 per cent participation by private investors from the Kerala diaspora and the rest by the state government.
“The company’s major project that has been announced is ‘Wayside Amenities’ — to create wayside amenities starting with Alappuzha, Wayanad and Ernakulam districts. Land to the extent of 2 to 4 acres would be acquired to set this up. This is the first such project that has been announced and it’s by taking over the land of state PSU SILK near Alappuzha,” said Chennithala.
He said recently a similar project was mooted by the Public Works Department, but it was shot down by Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran.
“The decision to take over the prime land of SILK at Alappuzha is a rip off as this is a ploy where precious public land will finally land in the hands of private parties. We demand the Vijayan government to release the MoU signed in this Alappuzha project. We wish to know who are these two directors of OKIH — O.V. Mustafa and Bajju George. Has the state cabinet cleared this project and the most important thing is why was a similar project that was mooted by the Indian Oil Corporation not looked into,” asked Chennithala.
Vijayan had, during a diaspora meeting held here, announced that OKIH would be formed and the Kerala diaspora could invest in it.
Among the objectives of OKIH are bringing global standards to Kerala in housing, tourism, health, skill development, infrastructure and education through Special Purpose Vehicles.
