By IANS,
Kochi : Smart City Dubai Monday served an ultimatum to the Kerala government, saying the Rs.1,500 crore Smart City Kochi project cannot be kept hanging in the balance “endlessly”.
In a statement issued here, Smart City Dubai said “we have to rethink about the future of the project”.
“But as mentioned earlier decisions can be taken within minutes and there is no point waiting endlessly or delaying this far. Our commitment to Kerala and the people of Kerala is important to us and we hope to begin the project soon.”
Smart City Dubai also said they have always welcomed discussions for speedy progress of the project so that issues could be sorted out and bottlenecks removed.
“In fact, the last round of talks held with the Kerala government was on Oct 1, 2009. We are yet to receive any invitation from them for any other discussions. Moreover, we have sent an invitation to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan for him to visit Dubai so that issues may be discussed and sorted out. We have not received any response to the invitation,” said Smart City Dubai.
On the contentious 12 percent freehold issue over which the project is hanging fire, it said that the framework agreement was “crystal clear” in its provision for freehold for Smart City Kochi, an Indian company with the Kerala government as its partner. The agreement is available in the public domain for anyone to examine, the statement added.
“We have constantly assured Kerala that the land will be used for the good of the state. Yet, we are unable to understand the reasons or intentions behind delaying the project in this manner. We have made no new demands on this issue. In fact, Smart City has not asked for the freehold land to be transferred to us right now.
“As per the framework agreement, the land is to be transferred only after the master plan has been completed. Smart City Kochi has only asked for assurance that when the master plan is over, freehold will be provided. The assurance has been requested in the form of a letter or by incorporating this into the second lease. The project is certainly being delayed despite our best efforts to communicate with them to sort out issues,” reads the statement.
The company was reacting to the recent statement by Achuthanandan that not an inch of land given to it can be sold. Achuthanandan has said in case the company is unable to abide by the agreement then Kerala will have to look for other options.
Achuthanandan had laid the foundation stone for the Smart City Kochi project in November 2007. It is proposed to come up in a 246 acre plot.