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Kochi , Sept. 12

THE participants at a seminar on `Cochin Port - A New Direction' organised by the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry suggested converting the Willingdon Island into a city centre of Kochi with facilities for recreation and shopping.

To push this proposal ahead, the chamber has decided to request the Union Government to set up an empowered taskforce to study the issue and provide with land use recommendation to attract long-term investments. "The current land policy and tenure will have to give way. This will bring better revenues to the port in the long run," it said. Therefore, the land should be kept in tact until the recommendations are issued. The taskforce can have representatives from the Ministry of Shipping, the Kerala Government, the port and from trade and commerce, the chamber said.

With the new container trans-shipment terminal coming at Vallarpadom, the container movement will almost completely move to the new terminal. This will render the existing wharfs grossly unutilised, the participants said. Further, with the shifting of the container movement, many offices and godowns connected to the shipping industry will also be shifted to Vallarpadom. This will render considerable area vacant. While arrival of cruise vessels can be one activity at the Willingdon Island, the island can be converted to become the hub of city life, they said.

Such a step will, in addition to attracting tourists arriving by cruise vessels, also help set up a knowledge-based industry, entertainment centres, convention centres, super speciality hospitals, shopping malls and even cultural centres. Those who spoke on the occasion included Mr Dominic Presentation, Minister for Fisheries; Mr D.T. Joseph, Secretary, Union Ministry of Shipping; Mr N. Sreekumar, President, CCC&I; and Mr P.H. Kurien, Principal Secretary, State Industries department.

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