The CAG’s damning special audit of KIIFB has left the LDF government defenceless, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said.
Mr. Satheesan, who demanded an investigation into the CAG’s findings, said the report was an indictment of the opaque and corrupt functioning of the State-owned body corporate.
The CAG had questioned KIIFB raising funds from the foreign financial market to fund mega public work projects.
It had also pointed out the callous manner in which KIIFB withdrew deposits from banks, costing the exchequer crores in terms of interest on deposits.
The special audit report had also flagged backdoor appointments in KIIFB and unjustifiably high salaries for some employees. The CAG also found anomalies in the auditing of daily spending.
Mr. Satheesan said the government had sat on the special audit report to avoid embarrassment during the Assembly session. However, the findings were trickling out into the open, and the government owed the people an explanation.
Mr. Satheesan said KIIFB would sink the State in debt. Many KIIFB funded projects had floundered due to poor execution.
Schemes such as ‘SilverLine’ was impractical and economically and environmentally unviable. He said everything about KIIFB and, by extension, SilverLine was opaque.
The government had not conducted any study to assess the adverse environmental, financial, and social impact of SilverLine. It merely had pushed ahead with land acquisition using funds borrowed by KIIFB from the foreign market. The government had roped inexpensive and complaint consultancies to give reports that would justify SilverLine.
The 300-km steep railway embankment required for SilverLine would bifurcate the State and act as a barrier to natural drainage. It would exacerbate rain, flood and mud-slip damage. Moreover, SilverLine would ensnare Kerala in an irredeemable debt trap. Mr. Satheesan said Kerala should abandon SilverLine and augment the State’s current railway network.
