Paul Antony, who steered the course of the Cochin Port Trust through a phase of great financial troubles, completed his tenure at the helm on Monday.

The government is yet to appoint a new chairman though unconfirmed reports said a senior IAS cadre officer in the State was tipped to take over.

The outgoing chairman will join the government of Kerala at the end of May as Additional Chief Secretary after the new government takes over, sources said.

Crucial period

Mr. Antony, who was in-charge of the Port Trust for more than five years, assumed office at the crucial period immediately after the inauguration of the International Container Transshipment Terminal in February 2011.

The outgoing chairman thanked his former colleagues for the work they had done together even as he pointed out that the port itself had gone through a transformation internally with ERP being firmly established in all areas of the port’s operations.

Austerity measures

He recalled that the port had gone through a period of “tough austerity measures” with even benefits to employees and pensioners being restricted for a few months. “But we have come out stronger, with the whole-hearted cooperation of the employees and their unions”, he said.

He added that all the arrears to the employees had been paid.

Mr. Antony leaves the Port Trust with an operating surplus of Rs.70 crore in 2015-16, the highest since 1979-80. The port authority’s marketing initiatives under Mr. Antony also saw the ICTT crossing the four-lakh TEU-mark in 2015-16. The facility has come under fire for not achieving the target set for the first phase.

The period also saw the port authority beginning work on the Rs. 970-crore international ship repair facility jointly with the Cochin Shipyard using the Mattancherry wharf.

Work on the Rs. 240-crore multi-user-liquid terminal with a capacity to handle 4.1 million metric tonnes per annum in conjunction with IOC on Puthuvypeen island is underway.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – May 18th, 2016