Kochi: The memorandum of understanding (MoU) has belied Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s claim that the government had no role in the contract with Red Crescent to implement the Life Mission project.
The MoU states that the state government is the second party in the agreement with Red Crescent in the UAE for the project meant to provide houses for the homeless in Kerala. The first party is the Red Crescent.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has obtained a copy of the MoU, which says that the state government is also responsible for the project.
The agreement says that in case of a misunderstanding in the implementation of the project, it should be resolved through bilateral talks and, if not, the project can be abandoned. But it doesn’t say anything about completion of the project and auditing of accounts.
The MoU was signed by Red Crescent general secretary Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi and Life Mission Chief Executive Officer U V Jose on July 11, 2019. The agreement says the project will get a financial assistance of Rs 20 crore, of which Rs 14.5 crore is for housing and Rs 5.5 crore is to build a hospital.
The ED is trying to figure out how Swapna became an intermediary in the project and took a commission of Rs 1 crore.
The MoU states that separate contracts will have to be signed for each activity under the project. However, the government has not made it clear if further contracts were signed.
On August 8, Vijayan said that the government had only allotted land after the UAE charity Red Crescent agreed to collaborate in the Life Mission project. The government had neither any role nor any knowledge about the other aspects of the project. “Swapna was an official at the UAE Consulate. What can the government do if she indulged in cheating in a transaction in which she was directly involved,” he said.