Kochi port, unions meet on Vallarpadam terminal

In a bid to set up the international container transshipment terminal (ICTT) project at Vallarpadam in a time-bound manner, top officials of the Cochin Port Trust (CoPT) held a meeting with various trade unions here on Saturday.

A CoPT spokesperson said though the union leaders expressed their apprehensions on certain terms of establishing the ICTT, they vowed support for the realisation of the project.

Though the unions were not happy about the government insisting on public-private partnership as a pre-condition for granting the viability gap fund support, the general consensus was that the support of the Union government should be availed of under conditions not detrimental to the port's future, welfare of the employees and the interests of the nation.

Union leaders led by M M Lawrence said they were all for the establishment of the terminal without delay, the spokesperson said.

Assuring the unions that their apprehensions would be given due consideration while finalising the terms of the proposal, CoPT chairman Jacob Thomas said the necessity is private-public partnership and the incorporation of the various clauses in the proposed agreement for the execution of the project.