Stage set for Princess to go

Stage set for Princess to go
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, FEB 6
The State Government is expected to shortly issue a work order for cutting the M V River Princess as it wound up all formalities needed before signing the contract with Mumbai-based Arihant Ship Breakers.
The Tourism Department has to seek permissions from 18 Government agencies including Customs before it can issue a work order.
According to sources, the Government last week had sent a draft of the contract to Arihant for its consent. “If they agree to the terms of the contract, the Government will get down to signing it as early as possible”, they said.
The sources further disclosed that the Department has obtained most of the permissions and the Government expects to issue a notification earmarking Britona as a Customs Point shortly.
Considering the failures in the past to get the vessel removed even after awarding the contract to parties, the Government has constituted a Monitoring Committee to oversee the process.
The Committee will be headed by the Principal Secretary B Vijayan, who is also the State’s Revenue Secretary. Other members on the committee are the law secretary, the tourism secretary, a scientist from the National Institute of Oceanography, Collector (North), Director of Tourism and a representative from the River Princess Hatao Manch (RPHM).
The RPHM on January 18 had served a legal notice to the Government threatening to file a contempt of court petition against it, as work on the Princess had yet to start.
A Tourism Department official attributed the delay in issuing work order as they were yet to get permission for a ‘Customs Point’ for bringing the scrap to the shore.