Gopalpur Port to be completed by 2010-Minister

Bhubaneswar,Feb 15 (UNI) The construction of the all weather Goaplpur port will be completed by 2010, Minister for Commerce and Transport Jaynarayan Misra told the Assembly today.

Replying to a question of Mr Ulaka Ramachandra(Cong), the minister said the work for the first phase of the port had been completed and already commissioned.

The work for the second phase would start after the government approved the Detail Project Report(DPR).

The government had signed an MoU with Gopalpur Ports Limited in September 2006 to make it an all weather port. As per the agreement, the company would submit the DPR by April 2008 for the second phase work, Mr Mishra said.

Replying to a supplementary question raised by Mr R C Patnaik (BJD) and Mr Narayan Reddy (CPI), the Minister said not a single regular employee of the port had been retrenched till today.

He said no agreement was signed with the company to provide jobs to the local people but the government would put pressure on the company to take local people in class four grade.

Speaker Maheswar Mohanty directed the minister to inquire into the allegation of Mr Ulaka that Orissa Stevedores Limited was exporting BPL rice to Bangladesh through the port and asked him to submit a report to the House.

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