During the meeting, the delegation demanded steps for the immediate implementation of the project, which was expected to generate 90,000 IT jobs in ten years, as rumours abounded that Tecom also was not interested in the hasty realisation of the project due to the global economic downturn.
Tecom was developing an IT park project in Malta named as Smart City simultaneously with the Kochi project. The company was also running the famous Dubai Internet City in UAE’s commercial capital.
After preliminary discussions, the delegation informed that Tecom was ready to reconstruct the roads of the Public Works Department at the project area on international standards. The delegates, including Smart City project manager Sajeev Unnikrishnan and business development manager Mithun Beeru, also called for measures to expedite project implementation.
The Tecom delegates discussed with Ernakulam District Collector M Beena the issues of reconstruction of roads as well as the shifting of the materials belonging to the Kerala State Electricity Board at the 100-acre plot bought from it for the project. Tecom had earlier agreed to shift out these materials from the KSEB land but the modalities were still being discussed.
Beena said a final decision on such things would be taken after the meeting the delegates would hold with Smart City chairman and Fisheries and Registrations Minister S Sarma and other officials at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
These talks were taking place just when apprehensions were being aired about the chances of actual implementation of the project as no effective steps had been taken for the purpose though one full year had passed since the laying of the foundation stone for the project. The foundation stone was laid for the IT park at the project area in Edachira, Kakkanad, of Kochi on November 16, 2007.
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