Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 20, 2011:
CHENNAI: In a sudden move that caught media persons by surprise, the Chennai Port Trust on Tuesday denied entry to newsmen over what they called ‘continuing negative publicity’ about the Port in the local media.
“You people never do your duty in a perfect way and always give negative publicity to the Port” - this was the sarcastic reply given by John Bosco, the Public Relations Officer, while denying entry passes to photo journalists from leading dailies in the city, who arrived to cover the arrival of a cruise vessel from Thailand at the port on Tuesday.Despite news photographers’ plea for passes, an adamant Bosco asked all journos to leave the premises.“When we allowed you (media) last time to cover such an event, instead of publicising the port as a cruise tourism destination, the media projected us as a dirty facility. Why should the port trust give entry passes to earn bad publicity again?” he asked.According to sources, pollution due to handling of dusty cargoes like coal and iron ore had become a big issue inside the port premises and the management was making its best efforts to keep the media away from the interior roads that were blackened by the movement of coal-laden vehicles.Though the Port Trust claimed to have a closed the conveyor belt and water sprinkler system to tackle dust from coal handling, pollution due to dusty cargo remained a pressing issue for residents living in and around Parry’s Corner and Royapuram.
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