Posco's ribbon-cutting ceremony under cloud

The foundation stone laying ceremony for the Posco India's steel plant at Kujang in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak in January 2010 is under a cloud.

This is because the atmosphere at Kujang, the site chosen for the ceremony, is not conducive to host the ceremony, sources in the district administration said.

Ashok Kumar Meena, revenue divisional commissioner (central range), Gyanranjan Dash, the district collector and other officials visited Kujang recently to do a reality check on the ground situation there.

These officials have given a report to the state government stating that the atmosphere at the site is not conducive to hold such a ceremony now.

It may be noted that normalcy is yet to be restored in the trouble torn Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages in the Posco site despite the efforts of the district administration.

The villagers belonging to 150 families who were displaced from these two villages due to the ongoing clashes between the pro and the anti-Posco activists are yet to be rehabilitated in their respected villages. Besides, the meeting of the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC), which was scheduled to be held in November this year to finalize the valuation of land and deal along with other issues of the displaced families, is yet to held.

The RPDAC meeting could not be held due to the ongoing violence at the proposed Posco site. “The ground situation is yet to be normalized because the officials have not yet entered into Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages. In this situation we cannot ensure the success of the company's ribbon cutting ceremony”, says Tamil Pradhan, a pro-Posco leader.

Even the police have been barred from entering the two villages to arrest the criminals.

“We are yet to be informed on the visit of the South Korean President”, said S Debdatta Singh, the district superintendent of police.

The pro-Posco leaders opine the visit of the South Korean President can create law and order problems which will further compound the problems for the Posco plant.

Meanwhile, Abhay Sahoo, leader, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading the anti-Posco movement in the state, has been camping at Gobindpur to intensify the stir.

The PPSS activists have threatened to bar the entry of the South Korean President for laying the foundation stone of the Posco steel plant.