Plea for Oil Palm India headquarters in Kollam

KOLLAM: Bharatheepuram Sasi, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) leader and former chairman of the public sector Oil Palm India Limited (OPIL), has registered his protest against the decision to construct the headquarters for OPIL in Kottayam.

In a statement here on Wednesday, Mr. Sasi said that Kottayam was too far from where the OPIL estates and factories were located in Kollam. The foundation stone for the headquarters will be laid in Kottayam on May 24. Mr. Sasi, who is also president of pro-INTUC workers and staff unions in OPIL, said his unions would boycott the stone-laying function. The INTUC will organise a mass movement against the move. He alleged that the Communist Party of India had vested interests in the decision. Over 10,000 acres of OPILs estates are in the eastern sectors of Kollam district. The majority of the workers and staff want the headquarters either at Punalur or in Kollam city