OWTU makes Petrotrin bid

OWTU Ancel Roget at his office in San Fernando. PHOTO BY ANIL RAMPERSAD
OWTU Ancel Roget at his office in San Fernando. PHOTO BY ANIL RAMPERSAD

The Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) has apparently had a change of heart and taken up the Prime Minister’s offer to make a bid for the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.

The union will present its proposal—a lease to own arrangement— to state oil company Petrotrin’s board at a time to be determined, but OWTU’s president general Ancel Roget said that the move is “the greatest act of patriotism in recent time.”

The union has partnered with Caribbean investment bank SunStone Equity, based in Suriname, and MAK England, a commodities trading firm with operations in the UK, the US and UAE.

SunStone helped the union come up with the proposal, while MAK will provide the crude oil necessary to sustain the refinery as well as the managerial expertise.

Roget said the union’s plan will save all the jobs currently on the line as Petrotrin continues with its planned shut-down of the 101-year-old refinery. He declined to give more details of the proposal until the union meets with Petrotrin.

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