Kitex decision a pressure tactic, says action council

Claiming that Kitex Garments’ plan to abandon its new investment project in Kerala as bogus, the Kitex Action Council has said that the company’s threat intends to pressurise the government for their own gain.

At a press conference here, the Kitex Action Council members alleged that the Pollution Control Board(PCB) and the panchayat were about to take action against the company for the lack of a waste disposal system at the factory in Kizhakkambalam.

The Kitex Action Council is an agitation council formed by the local people protesting against the poor waste management of the company in the Kizhakkambalam plant.

 Kitex Action Council convener P M Abdu Rahamam said that ever since the setting up of the processing unit in Kizhakkambalam in 2008, the lives of the local people were in danger because of the constant health issues.


“Massive quantities of waste water is being flown to the river. When we took up the issue before the High Court a few months ago, it had ordered a report from the PCB. After the PCB examining the unit, they had called a meeting at Thiruvananthapuram. Sabu M Jacob, managing director of Kitex Garments Ltd, had agreed for a new waste disposal and treatment plant within a time frame of four months.

The panchayat, considering the agitation of the local people, was all set to issue a stop memo. It is to flee from all the actions that the company came out with the statement to shelve the expansion plans and  put pressure on the government,” Abdu Rahman said.

Kitex Action Council members claim that the factory unit in Kizhakkambalam has been constructed without any scientific study and there is high level corruption in the issuance of the PCB clearance certificate.

There are more than 7,500 employees in the factory and the sanitation waste is allegedly disposed in the river. The boiler of the factory is allegedly just few metres away from the residential space of the local people. Similarly, the company claims to have a waste water recycling plant, but it is reportedly dysfunctional.

The Council members claimed that they did not want the company to forego its operation here. Instead, they want the company to improve the waste management system. The council will continue its agitation if the necessary action is not taken, the members said.