Uncertainty
plaguing the Vallarpadom Transhipment Container Terminal
is casting its shadow over the Kerala state governments
proposal to lay an 18-hole golf link of international
standards in the green belt area of the project.
Mooted as a joint venture of the Tourism Resorts Kerala
Ltd (TRKL) and the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), the golf course
project is still on the drawing-sheet stage. TRKL, meanwhile,
has identified G S Oberoi as the architect for the project.
Sources say he will soon submit an elaborate report on
the concept.
CPT sources, however, maintain that the project is directly
linked to the Vallarpadom project and any further initiative
will depend on its future. "We have submitted a feasibility
report on the golf course project also to the ministry
of surface transport. But the clearance depends on the
Vallarpadom project."
But CPT chairman Jacob Thomas is highly optimistic about
the project, which is capable of giving that extra edge
to Kochi as a cruise destination. "There is no reason
why we shouldnt get a clearance. We have presented a
report and the initial feedback is quite promising."
TRKL director A Harshan, however, feels the golf course
project can be executed as an independent one and it need
not be linked to the transhipment terminal. "This
is a very promising concept. And the investment required
is just Rs 20 crore. TRKL and CPT are capable of laying
the turf."
Harshan says TRKL is for forming a separate entity to
execute the golf course project. "The main partners
will be CPT and TRKL. We will hold the majority stake
in the company. And we are sure of getting the participation
of a non-resident Indian or a prominent domestic hotel
chain in the project."
Golf links are helping Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia
to mint money. The sources say the Kochi project will
also be able to attract a large numbers of players who
visit other South East Asian countries.
"We are going
in for a major link that includes a golf academy with
night light facilities. There will also be a country club,"
says a CPT official.
But
CPT is more interested in realising the project as part
of Vallarpadom Terminal. "It will make lots of sense
to moot the golf link in the green belt of the transhipment
project than executing it as an independent project on
an island that doesnt have any other attraction,"
says the official.
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