CM Pinarayi Vijayan to leave on four-nation tour on May 8

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his team of officials are expected to embark on a 10-day tour of four nations from May 8. The trip will also include a visit to London to participate in the listing ceremony of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board’s (

KIIFB

)

masala bonds

by the

London Stock Exchange

.

The team participating in the listing ceremony on May 17 also includes finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, chief secretary Tom Jose and KIIFB chief executive officer K M Abraham. The team will also visit the prestigious London School of Economics.

The state government has accepted the invitation to participate in the listing ceremony at a time when it is under severe opposition attack on the matter.

Opposition leader

Ramesh Chennithala

, alleging corruption, has written an open letter to the chief minister asking him to allow a team of opposition MLAs to peruse the files regarding the masala bonds. The opposition’s contention is that the Canadian firm CDPQ that has invested in Masala Bond is also the majority share-holder in SNC-Lavalin, a company whose dealings with the state government when Pinarayi Vijayan was the power minister in 1998 is being alleged to be shady.

The state team will reach the Netherlands on May 9, where Vijayan, Tom Jose and additional chief secretary (water resources) Viswas Mehta will meet Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, the Netherlands minister for infrastructure and water management. The meeting is part of following up on the decision to imbibe expertise from the Dutch on flood management.

The team will then interact with the experts on the Dutch Risk Reduction Programme and will also visit Noordward area in Netherlands. This delta in southern Netherlands, where the Dutch government has launched Room-for-the-River project, is a classic example of Dutch expertise in managing floods effectively.

The team will also interact with government and university officials to understand the modern agricultural practises in low-lying areas, coastal area protection and canal navigation.

The state team will then move to Geneva, Switzerland, on May 13, where it will attend the UN world reconstruction conference, and participate in the

United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP)-led visit to areas of responsible eco-tourism. The team visiting Geneva will comprise Vijayan, Tom Jose, principal secretary (revenue and disaster management) V Venu, and member secretary of Kerala State Disaster Management Authority Sekhar L Kuriakose.

The chief minister and the chief secretary will visit Paris on May 16, where they will interact with the associations of Keralites, before leaving for London on May 17.

The state government has moved files regarding the foreign tour of the chief minister and team to the foreign affairs ministry for obtaining mandatory clearance.