KOZHIKODE: The Kuttiyadi Coconut Industrial Park Limited, a project of the state government announced almost a decade ago, is still a non-starter. Envisaged as a holistic solution for the salvation of the coconut, the 116 acres land for the project at Velam near Kuttiyadi was bought when Elamaram Karim was the minister for industries in 2007. There were plans to produce an array of coconut-based products including Coconut ice cream, Virgin coconut oil, Coconut honey and packed tender coconut water.
KP Kunhammad Kutti, who is one of the directors of the company formed in 2011, told DC that the entire project came to a halt due to legal wrangles. The land was purchased through negotiation but what happened was that the owner approached the court demanding that the land should be taken over through acquisition. The government failed to get all necessary documents for the land which helped the land owner approach the court”, he added.
The case is still pending. Now the land is with the Kerala State Industries Development Council (KSIDC) and the project site is in an abandoned state. “For the last several months nothing has happened in connection with the project”, he added. “Even the director board of the company has not been convened for the last several months”, he added. However the coconut farmers of the region are lamenting the delay in executing the much awaited project. The Kuttiyadi Coconut Farmers’ Producer Company chairman Babu Mattath told DC that the announcement of the Coconut park was received with much hope.
“But lack of timely action by government agencies resulted in the legal defeat and the undue delay”, he added. Former Kuttiadi MLA KK Lathika told DC that the UDF government failed to take any steps to end the legal wrangle and also failed to legally pursue the case correctly. “I hope the present LDF government which has already allocated funds for four mega-coconut development parks in the state will ensure that legal wrangles are cleared to get the dream project going”, he added.
