Minister: 4,700 Petrotrin workers to go

ENERGY Minister Franklin Khan said the Petrotrin refinery closure will see the retrenchment of 3,500 permanent workers and 1,200 temporary staff (totalling 4,700) but Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh complained this figure differs to the 1,700 workers hitherto cited by the company and Government, and to the 5,300 company staff figure cited in the Lashley Report.

Khan’s figures also comes on the heels of Petrotrin chairman Wilfred Espinet being reported on Sunday as saying all 3,500 Petrotrin permanent workers will be terminated, according to Indarsingh.

In the Lower House yesterday, Khan was replying to Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee’s urgent question about calculation of termination benefits. Khan said packages are being negotiated between Petrotrin and the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) which will meet today (Tuesday.) He said the package cost is “upward of $1 billion.”

As Khan and Indarsingh clashed, the Prime Minister rose to attempt to say something, prompting Opposition jeers, but Speaker Brigid Annisette-George instead recognised Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal. Rowley and Moonilal stood simultaneously.

Moonilal did not give way but asked a lengthy query which the Speaker ultimately disallowed as too lengthy.

Indarsingh queried Khan’s remark that $1 billion is to be spent on termination. Indarsingh argued that such Government pronouncements serve to undermine the cut and thrust of negotiations now under way between union and company. Secondly, he asked how any such sum could be calculated, given an alleged disparity in figures being quoted for the number of staff at Petrotrin being retrenched, ranging from 1,700 (by Khan and Rowley) workers to 3,500 workers (Espinet) to 5,300 workers (Lashley Report.)

In a later question, Khan said the Government had held no deep-water bid rounds (since 2015), but that land and shallow water bid rounds are due this year.