Smart City board to meet

Even as the uneasy relationship between TECOM and the State Government continues, the director board meeting of Smart City, Kochi, will be held here on March 29. It is expected that a make-or-break decision will be taken at the meeting. Though the details, including the date and venue of the board meeting, were decided bilaterally a week ago, the government’s statement the other day that TECOM had been asked to make its stand clear has irked the latter. It is learnt that TECOM will take up the issue at the meeting.

“The government could have discussed the issues at the board meeting. But it aired statements in public even after jointly deciding the date and venue of the meeting,” sources close to TECOM said. Earlier, TECOM had set December 31, 2009, as the deadline for sorting out the issues. Though TECOM had declared that it would back out from the project if the problems were not addressed within the deadline, it softened the stand later. Then it was the turn of the State Government to declare that it would even scrap the deal with TECOM. It also declared that a new promoter will be roped in soon.

But nothing has happened other than these declarations so far. During the Budget presentation, the State Government had reiterated its commitment to the project.
The standoff between the two sides centres round the free-hold land right with TECOM insisting the it will not settle for anything less than that right. But the government made it clear that it was against the conditions in the framework agreement, according to which the right can be granted only after completion of the master plan. The master plan was deadlocked when TECOM terminated the deal with Collin Buchnan, which was entrusted with the duty last year.