NFF national meet from today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The national conference of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) will begin here on December 6. Mayor K Chandrika will open the fisheries exhibition and a photo exhibition at the Hassan Marikar hall on Tuesday at 4.30 p.m. There will be stalls selling tapioca and fish curry at the exhibition venue. Speaker G Karthikeyan will formally inaugurate the conference at 9.30 a.m. on December 7. The delegates’ meeting will be inaugurated by Transport Minister V S Sivakumar at 9 a.m. on December 8.  A mass rally will be taken out from Palayam Martyrs Square on December 9 at 4 p.m. The valedictory function to be held at East Fort on the same day will be attended by Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan,  Archbishop Soosai Pakiyam, MLAs M A Wahid, V Sivankutty, Dominic Presentation, V Sasi and Jameela Prakasam.NFF Round table Discussion TodayThe National Fishworkers Forum (NFF)as part of its national conference to be held here, will organise a round-table discussion on December 6 on the need for more parliamentary accountability and scrutiny of the working of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. The discussion is being held in a context of the World Bank and ADB increasing their loan portfolio in the coastal regions with projects such as the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP - Rs 990 crore) and Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Programme (SCPMIP - Rs 1125 crore).‘’ Both projects have been criticised by NFF and environmental groups as being anti- people and anti-environment and for promoting concepts such as as artificial reefs in coastal regions,’’ said a press release.  The NFF said that despite rising external debt of the country, of which over 67 percent is owed to financial institutions such as the World Bank and ADB, it is of deep concern that the Parliament and state legislatures have little scrutiny over the content and implementation of World Bank and ADB projects.  The meeting will be held at Hassan Marikkar hall from 10 am  to 5 pm. Those who are expected to participate include CPI state secretary C K Chandrappan, activist C R Neelakandan, Dr Varghese George, Advocate Annie Sweeti, Mageline Peter and others, the release said.