Smart City Malta’s CEO has come under attack from the prime minister of a southern Indian state, where he is also piloting a multi-million project.
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan – the 87-year-old prime minister of the Indian state of Kerala – vented his frustration at the project delays by describing the Muslim CEO of Smart City Fareed Abdulrahman as a “drunk”.
Smart City was engaged to build a project similar to the one at Ricasoli in Kochi, south India.
Commenting on the delays hampering the development of Kochi Smart City, which is still on the drawing board despite an agreement signed in 2004, Mr Achuthanandan accused Mr Abdulrahman of neglecting the project.
“He (Smart City Dubai and Smart City Kochi CEO Fareed Abdulrahman) comes to Kerala to get drunk. He never informs the state government on issues that the government has to be informed about,” he said during a recent press conference.
This is not the first time Mr Achuthanandan has made cutting remarks against the Smart City owners. On one occasion, he said the cause for the delay of the Kochi project was because the company had gone bust due to the global recession.
Mr Abdulrahman, a frequent visitor to Malta, has the full support of Tecom Investments – the Dubai mother company behind the two multi-million projects.
Contacted by The Sunday Times, a spokesman for Smart City Malta said Mr Abdulrahman had no comments to make but referred the newspaper to a declaration made by Tecom Investments chairman Abdul Latif Al Mullah in the wake of the India incident.
While denying speculation that Mr Abdulrahman would be removed from his post in the two projects, the Tecom chairman expressed solidarity with the CEO and praised his efforts on the Kochi project since its inception.
The issue between the prime minister of Kerala and the Smart City project investors goes back a number of years over a disagreement about part of the land given freehold by the Kerala government for the project. According to Tecom, the land in question forms part of the project and it should therefore have selling rights.
According to latest reports from India, the issue was resolved last week and the 8.8 million square foot project is now expected to gain momentum.
Kochi’s Smart City will be bigger than Malta’s. However, the project in Kalkara is already gaining ground even though the agreement with the Maltese government was signed in 2007.
Tecom Investments also owns a 60 per cent stake in Go – Malta’s biggest telecoms company formerly known as Maltacom.