In what could burrow a huge hole in the July 18 report on cargo handling operations in the Haldia and Kolkata ports prepared by the Kolkata Port Trust Chairman Committee only four out of stated 146 companies have moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the decision to tender out such operations.
The report was prepared in a KoPT meeting following directions from the Shipping Ministry of the new NDA Government which was earlier alerted about the ongoing multi-crore scam going on for decades in the handling operations robbing the Government revenue worth crores.
The Pioneer had earlier broken the story of ongoing scam showing how the private handling agents were devouring thousands of crores in connivance with some top Board officials and in utter violation of Major Port Trust Act without paying a single farthing to the Government.
Curiously eight out of eleven Government nominated Members of the KoPT had in the July 18 meeting opposed the tendering out of the cargo handling operations — showing how 146 companies were already participating in the shore handling operations—in a bid to stonewall the efforts made by the Government to end the monopoly of a few companies that were involved in the business duping both the Port and public cores.
These Government-nominated Members --- some of who were seniorofficials --- opposing the move to auction out the shore handlingoperations had clearly gone against the Shipping Ministry directives,insiders said.
They also pointed out that two companies --- namely, M/S. lee &Murehead and M/S. JM Baxi --- out of the four that had filed the casein the High Court were not cargo handling agents in real sense of theterm.
“This makes it clear that the operations have been for all practicalpurposes in the hands of a single monopoly firm” sources in the KoPTsaid alleging this firm had influenced the Trustee Board members tospike the Shipping Ministry efforts to tender out the handlingoperations.
Meanwhile what could further erode the argument of those who opposedthe tendering process about 17 companies from all over the country onTuesday participated in the pre-bidding meeting held in Haldia.
“The participation of such large number of players in the pre-bidmeeting clearly shows their willingness to participate in the saidtender and their intention to profitable handle the cargo at the Portat Ceiling Rate of Rs 119.48 per metric ton while sharing a minimumrevenue of Rs 13 per MT with the Port,” a senior official saidreminding the agents were charging anywhere between Rs 260 and Rs 300per MT for cargo handling operations.
The Pioneer had shown in its earlier reports how not only theGovernment lost thousands of crores on account of the existingpractice but also how it contributed immensely to the inflationarytrends that were the main headache of the successive Governments.
This, because a large number of items including cement, coal, steel,manganese, cycles, utensils, motorbikes etc were imported via portsand “such high rates of handling the cargo are bound to push upprices.”
Meanwhile the Bench of Justice Nadira Patherya on Tuesday directed thepetitioners to submit the copies of resolution of July 18 BOT meetingand fixed August 11 as the next date of hearing.