The Hindu Business Line : Kerala govt launches clean-up at Kochi port

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Kerala govt launches clean-up at Kochi port

V. Sajeev Kumar

Extortion racket

Kochi port users, trade unions and State government representatives have together succeeded in fighting the unlawful extortion that rendered Kochi a high-cost port.

KOCHI PORT users, trade unions and government representatives have together succeeded in fighting the unlawful extortion that rendered Kochi a high-cost port. — H. Vibhu

At the insistence of the Cochin Port Trust, the Kerala Government has initiated moves to clear the port area of certain elements allegedly extorting money from truck and trailer operators coming to the port. The State government's initiative has been welcomed by the port management,which feels that the port should now attract more traffic.

For the first time, the trade unions and the port users assembled on a common platform to fight extortion. The port management was happy that the State Industries and Labour Ministers sat with port users and trade union leaders to resolve the crisis which was becoming virtually unmanageable. The unlawful collection of money, the port users pointed out, had rendered Kochi a high-cost port, leading to diversion of ships.

Cartel formation

The trade union representatives, irrespective of political affiliations, too came out strongly against extortion by a cartel, Island Lorry Transport Company, said to be controlled by a trade union leader. The Ministers not only expressed themselves strongly against any kind of illegal activity but also asked the law enforcement agencies to take stern action against those found guilty. Cartel formation by certain trucks and container trailers too would not accepted, they made it clear.

Acting on the government directive, the City Police Commissioner immediately appointed a senior police officer of the rank of assistant commissioner as the nodal officer to monitor the situation. It is learnt that the complaints of extortion dropped down drastically immediately after the police action and there were no complaints from the trade in the last few days. However, senior port officials maintained that no action could be taken unless there was a written complaint from the shipper. According to port users, the money is collected under two heads — kettukooli (for tying tarpaulins in trucks) at the rate of Rs 50 and kavadamkooli (entry charge) of Rs 100 each vehicle. Interestingly, the money is collected in the name of welfare of workers and the annual collection is estimated at Rs 4 crore and this has been going on for the past 15 years.

Labour board

Meanwhile, an office of the Kerala Head Load Workers Welfare Board was opened recently in Willingdon Island, the government objective being that that all labour bookings should be done through the Board so that the money collected in the name of workers is genuinely spent in the welfare of workers and not pocketed by middlemen. All existing casual head load workers had been asked to register in the Board.

The Cochin Port Chairman, Mr N. Ramachandran, in his desperate bid to stop this unfair practice, had convened several meetings with trade unions and trade bodies in past few months but with little success. The collections apparently continued unabated.

It may be noted that the rates quoted at Kochi for handling wheat import is Rs 799 per tonne whereas in the neighbouring Tuticorin Port, it is Rs 276. It has been found that the main component of the rate at Kochi is the amount charged by a private company under the head of workers. The Kochi Port has lost almost seven wheat vessels in succession due to high cost of operation.

Low productivity

When major ports in the country recorded growth rates of 20-30 per cent with annual cargo throughput in the range of 40-60 million tonnes, the productivity of Kochi has remained stagnant over the past several years at 13-14 million tonnes. Of this, about 10-11 million tonnes happens to be captive oil cargo.

Over the last few years, traditional cargoes such as cashew from Kollam, coir products from Alappuzha, coffee from Karnataka, and garments from Coimbatore have been diverted to neighbouring ports and Kochi gets only a small percentage of these cargoes. Even traditional exports, such as rubber and tea, get diverted in large quantities to other ports.

A trade union leader, who participated in the meeting, said stopping of unauthorised collections would not be enough to stop traffic diversion. The port must be equipped with modern cargo-handling equipment.

He pointed out that there was no bulk un-loader, no speedy means to evacuate landed cargo, and no warehouse where the cargo would not mix with rain water. The cargo handling operation was done with old equipment brought by private contractors and the manual labour, who strive to make the operations as fast as possible.

He said that the name of Kochi did not even figure in the recent tender floated by the State Trading Corporation to import around 16 lakh tonnes of wheat due to non- existence of bulk cargo berth. There was, he said, a need for building a bulk cargo terminal in the port, if possible with participation of the State government.

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