Cong played blunder over Coke : Alemao
22 July 1999 10:19 IST The controversy over the state government stopping water supply to Coca Cola plant here is taking interesting shape with industries minister Churchill Alemao blaming his predecessors led by his own Congress party for allowing the project in haste.
While the discussion on postponed calling attention motion in the House is just one day ahead, Alemao blasted chief minister Luizinho Faleiro, who was the then industries minister as well as speaker Pratapsing Rane, the former chief minister, for allowing the soft drink multinational.
While justifying his action of stopping water supply to the Hindustan Coca Cola Bottling South West Pvt Ltd, Alemao says he is not against the MNC but they consuming water at the cost of requirements of the locals surrounding Verna industrial estate. He substantiates it with letters from four village panchayats complaining about water.
"I do not want to replicate what the Shiv Sena-BJP government did to another MNC like Enron, which they vowed to throw it in the Arabian sea and ended up in allowing it with more tariff per unit", says Alemao. He plans to settle it before Coke goes into full-fledged production.
Though Alemao claims that Coke is presently doing a trial production, deputy speaker Alex Sequeira, who was the chairman of Industrial Development Corporation when Coke was allowed, says the MNC has gone into full production since 3 March. "The project was permitted by the high power co-ordination committee", he adds.
Alemao however wonders how the HPCC could permit the multi-crore project within a fortnight while Coke had not even submitted a proper project report as per the requirement. Both Rane and Faleiro, along with Sequeira, had allowed it as the members of the HPCC, he alleges.
Though he repeatedly states that he is not against the project, Alemao’s precondition is to lay a special 45 km-long pipeline from Selaulim irrigation project and not by supplying water through the IDC pipeline. The PWD supplies water to the IDC, the corporation controlled by industries department.
As Alemao is getting prepared to face the Assembly on the issue, the opposition members however suspect ulterior motive behind it. Alemao has however refuted the allegation that he is furious because the MNC did not agree to sponsor football players of his national team, the Churchill Brothers
