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Unrest over port privatisation puts Cochin container terminal project in jeopardy

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Mounting opposition by the workers at the Cochin Port to privatisation of the Rajiv Gandhi terminal has cast a shadow over the setting up of the prestigious Vallarpadam container transshipment terminal.

Four out of the ten companies, which were selected for participating in the global tender floated by the Cochin Port Trust, have already backed out. This has forced the CPT to extend the last date for submission of tenders from June 30 to August 15.

Port officials fear that a token strike called by the major trade unions in the port on June 30 would send a wrong signal to the private investors. The strike called by the Cochin Thuramukha Samrakshana Samiti (Cochin Port Protection Committee) has evoked support from all the major trade unions belonging to different political affiliations.

Incidentally, this is the first time that all the major unions have come together against an issue. Barring some officers and ministerial staff, all the workers have rallied behind the present campaign, said V Hamza, general secretary of the Cochin Port Labour Union.

The CPLU is controlled by the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist). The strike call was given following the failure of talks between the representatives of the workers and the management last week.

The strike is likely to paralyse the entire operations in the port on Wednesday.

The Port Trust's proposal is to hand over the management of the Rajiv Gandhi terminal, now in the public sector, to the private agency which comes forward to establish the transshipment terminal.

The Cochin Port Trust would have a 26 per cent stake in the joint venture. Port Trust officials fear that the private agencies may not come forward to take up the transshipment terminal if they are not offered the control of the present domestic terminal. The Port Trust had sought for the joint development of both to make the offer more attractive.

Hamza told Rediff On The NeT that the workers were opposing the privatisation of the Rajiv Gandhi terminal, as they perceive a threat to their jobs and service prospects. He said that the workers were not opposed to the private participation in setting up the transshipment terminal, but were against the move to hand over the already developed terminal in the public sector to a private agency.

"The workers have already made a lot of sacrifices for the Rajiv Gandhi terminal and we are not ready to risk our jobs for the sake of the new transshipment terminal," said vice president of the union, K V Iyer.

He said that the Central government had invested Rs 700 million for developing the Rajiv Gandhi terminal after the workers agreed to forego several concessions they enjoyed. "Many workers had lost their jobs in the bargain and the management took no step to protect their interests. We are not prepared for any more sacrifices," he added.

The Port Trust chairman C Babu Rajeev said that the fears expressed by the workers were misplaced. He claimed that the management had made adequate provisions to ensure that none will lose their jobs. "In fact, the privatisation would only create more job opportunities and better service conditions," he added.

He expressed the fear that the resistance by the workers to the plan would hinder the progress of the work on transshipment terminal. This would adversely affect its financial viability, since many ports in the country and outside are going for massive expansion with private investments. The cost of the project is also bound to escalate. It has already escalated four times the original estimated cost of Rs 6 billion.

The trade union representatives, who took part in a discussion convened by the chairman, did not share his optimism. Iyer, who took part in the discussion, said that the chairman could not remove most of their apprehensions and warned that the unions will intensify their strike if the token strike did not yield the desired result.

The port circles fear that the growing disenchantment among the workers could scuttle the transshipment terminal, a project pending for over three decades now.

Feasibility studies conducted by Dutch company, Frederic R Harris BV, had found immense scope for the transshipment terminal at Cochin as it lies on the trunk route. The transshipment terminal could rival the Colombo container terminal as most of the Indian exports are currently routed through Colombo.

The Cochin terminal can attract fourth generation ships with capacity of 6000 tonnes as the depth of sea around the terminal would be 15 metres. The depth of the sea in Colombo is only 13 metres and Bombay 11 metres.

The study by the Dutch company had favoured the development of the transshipment terminal in the joint sector. For total government operation or private operation would not satisfy the shipping lines as they have to attract the traffic from Colombo.

Only if the shipping lines were convinced of quality of facilities and services at the terminal than they would look for ports other than the one in Colombo.

A sub-committee appointed by the National Shipping Board wanted speedy implementation of the project in the light of the tremendous changes taking place in the transport of cargo around the world.

India has been slow in recognising the importance and requirements of container traffic. At present, containerisation in the country is about 25 to 30 per cent as against 70 per cent and above in the developed countries.

The sub-committee found a lot of advantages for the transshipment terminal at Cochin because of its proximity to the main shipping lines for both east-bound and west-bound traffic.

It would be easier for mainline vessels to call at Vallarpadam than Colombo, Singapore and, to some extent, Dubai. In the absence of the transshipment facility, Cochin is content with feeder ships to carry containers to and from these international transshipment terminals.

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