Cashew scam letter false, says minister J Mercykutty Amma

Thiruvananthapuram: Cashew development minister J Mercykutty Amma clarified in Assembly on Friday that the letter V.D. Satheeshan submitted in the Assembly as government order for self certification of quality check was a letter from the then Cashew Development Board MD asking the government to insist that the companies that supply cashew nut needed to produce a certificate from the country of origin of the cashew.

Ms Mercykutty Amma, while making a statement on the floor of the House on Friday to clarify the allegations of Mr Satheesan, said that this was to ensure that the companies which supplied cashew did not cheat the government by supplying cashew from another country that produced cashews of lesser quality. The letter had clearly mentioned that a third party would conduct the quality check.

The agency for the quality check was the same as the one shortlisted by the previous UDF Government, the minister said. Mr Satheesan however, reiterated the allegations. He said that the minister was evading the issue. The issue was that the government, which rejected the offer made on supplying cashew nut from Ivory coast for Rs 118 per kilo, after ten days purchased cashew from the same destination for Rs 124.50 per kilo. The argument was that the tender was rejected as there was only a single bidder. However, the cashew nut from Guinea-Bissau was purchased even though it was a single tender, Mr Satheesan said.