Lee: 'Uncaring' Govt sending home Petrotrin workers before Xmas

Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee. FILE PHOTO/JEFF MAYERS
Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee. FILE PHOTO/JEFF MAYERS

POINTE-A-PIERRE MP David Lee says this uncaring Government was sending home Petrotrin workers amonth before Christmas.

He was contributing to debate on the Miscellaneous Provisions (Heritage Petroleum, Paria Fuel Trading and Guaracara Refining Vesting) bill in the House yesterday and lamented that 5,000 Petrotrin employees were being sent home.

"I wonder if the honourable Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have spared a thought for the families that will have no income or their income taken away one month before Christmas? I wonder if his Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister could understand families who will be on the breadline, not able to send their children to school and university? To be able to pay their loans, to buy food?

"This has demonstrated that this Government led by the honourable Prime Minister is truly...uncaring, heartless administration – some people might say even wicked."

Lee said he called on Government to hold its hand and rethink the closing of Petrotrin.

He said his heart hurt as MP, as former Petrotrin employees would visit his office seeking solace, and described the closure as a cowardly act perpetrated by this Government. He recalled a few months ago the Prime Minister had a meeting in Marabella, when he described the act of closing down Petrotrin as brave and courageous and said history would vindicate him.

Lee said: "This country will never forgive the Prime Minister for closing down Petrotrin."

He asked, with four companies, whether there will be new CEOs and what their remuneration packages would be.

"Will we now see three CEOs like Wylie getting TT$240,000 a month?"

American Mike Wylie has been announced as the CEO of the Petrotrin Heritage Company Ltd.

Lee asked why locals who were part of the energy sector internationally, including the son of Naparima MP Rodney Charles, were not sought. That would be true patriotism, he said.

It was disingenuous for Imbert to speak about Petrotrin as though it was useless and never developed TT, he said, while in his budget statement last year he praised the company's great potential and described it as critical to the transformation to a gas economy.

Responding to Imbert's saying in the past six months Government had to guarantee loans for Petrotrin, hee said before this, Petrotrin was securing its own loans and what happened was that the board of directors perpetuated a narrative that the company was no longer viable and sent home workers.

He had a message for the trade unions and the people of the country: "Under a UNC administration we would have never shut down Petrotrin. We would have worked with the unions to make Petrotrin viable again."

Lee said the Lashley Report on Petrotrin spoke showed the strengths and opportunities outweighed the negatives and never spoke about closure.

"What happened eight months later? The Government wanted to shut down Petrotrin just so and destroy the unions."

He also questioned how the critical issues pointed out in the report, such as corporate governance, poor decision-making, lack of transparency and procurement, would be addressed with the new companies.

"Is it because they hire a fella called Wylie that he will make better decisions?"

He questioned whether, with the transfer of assets, contractors with liabilities will be paid, all temporary and permanent workers will receive severance packages and whether Petrotrin will be able to collect money owed to it.

He described the vesting bill as another chapter in the deception, manipulation and secrecy in what was Petrotrin.

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"Lee: ‘Uncaring’ Govt sending home Petrotrin workers before Xmas"

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