Ramnarine: Patriotic refinery deal too convenient

GOVERNMENT’s decision to close the Petrotrin Refinery deal with Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company Ltd has been met with a mixture of favour and scepticism, coming on the eve of a general election.

Former Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said, “It is clear to me that the rush to finalise this arrangement is, of course, related to the pending election.

“It does not take a genius to figure that out. I mean the refinery was closed down on the November 30, 2018. They have had 19 months to do this and they are now bringing it on the eve of the general election. To me I find that too be too convenient."

He said the country should pay close attention to the impending deal that would certainly become an election issue if signed.

On Wednesday at the launch of the Petrotrin Land Distribution Programme for workers who were terminated, the Prime Minister announced his readiness to sign off on the agreement with the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU).

Patriotic which won the bid from among 77 expressions of interest, is a fully-owned subsidiary of the OWTU.

Sources told Newsday that representatives from the government, the OWTU and Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL) were locked in meetings all day Thursday trying hammer out the arrangements.

Ramnarine said once the transaction is finalised there will be no need for approval by the Parliament. He said as far as he is aware all of the assets of Petrotrin were vested in TPHL by and Act of Parliament in 2018 before the closure of the oil company in November that year.

However, Ramnarine said, although there is no need for Parliamentary approval for the disposal or lease of the assets, he still believed something of this magnitude should be the subject of a Parliamentary debate.

“At the end of the day you must remember that this country spent about US$1.5 billion to upgrade that refinery so what ever people may think about that refinery, the fact of the matter is that taxpayers spent close to TT$10 billion to upgrade that refinery and significant parts of the refinery are new.

“So it is therefore reasonable to expect the people of TT should have full disclosure about this arrangement between government and Patriotic.”

Ramnarine said he was concerned that the transaction was happening without procurement regulations in place.

“The procurement regulations have not yet come into effect. As a result, the procurement regulators do not have all the instruments that the regulator needs to be effective."

Commenting on Rowley’s announcement, economist Dr Roger Hosein said if Patriotic could raise the relevant resources to get the process started, “by all means I am in support.

“I am in support because it will benefit the fence-line communities, it will benefit the wider national TT economy. So once TT benefits, I think that is what we all want.”

However, he said he hoped the enthusiasm to sign off and get the economy rolling, was not a façade.

“What I hope is not happening, is a smoke screen. I hope this is not just some form of politicking to win the election or make strides to win the election that there is the suggestion that progress is being made.”

He said, “It is in the interest of the government of TT after August 10 that we try to restart the refinery. It would create a wave of jobs and this wave of jobs will benefit everyone."

Hosein said a sound strategic model was needed to ensure that the restart of the refinery took place in a way that did not strain the taxpayers more than it did before it was closed down.

Weighing in on the details of the deal, Hosein said, contrary to what some were saying, there is a lot of information available from the budget speech, the mid-term review and from some of the pronouncements being made at the moment.

“But certainly it must not be a situation where there is a greater or renewed dependence on taxpayers to support the refinery as it moves forward. If it is a private sector transaction, let it be a private sector transaction.”