Sinanan denies Chinese firm chosen to take over PoS port

MINISTER of Works And Transport Rohan Sinanan denied claims by Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh that the Government favours a named Chinese firm to take over the running of the Port of Port of Spain.

Newsday spoke to Sinanan on Tuesday after Indarsingh made the claim when speaking on the budget in the House of Representatives on Monday and reiterating his points in a statement on Tuesday.

Indarsingh named the firm as Orient Overseas Container Line of Hong Kong, while saying a French firm, CMA CGM, from Marseilles, was also interested.

Sinanan said, “If Rudy Indarsingh has that information, he has more information than I have. You should ask him for that. I have no information or no knowledge of what he said.”

Indarsingh also criticised the Government’s recent purchase of a $17 million gantry crane, just ahead of the privatisation.

Sinanan responded, “I wouldn’t comment on Mr Indarsingh.

"What I can tell you is the port has a programme going forward. If you listen to my speech today on the budget, I said a lot about the port.”

He said his speech contradicted much of what Indarsingh said.

On Indarsingh’s complaint about the Government not specifying its proposed business model for the port, Sinanan said he had also addressed that in his budget speech.

Newsday asked about Indarsingh’s claim the Government in recent years and just before the budget had ignored the views of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) on reforming the port.

Sinanan said after the recent general election Indarsingh was still in campaign mode.

“We have a country to run. I’ll not waste time in petty politics.”

On Indarsingh’s query as to whether port privatisation had been an item in the People's National Movement’s election manifesto, Sinanan said previously it had constituted a couple of full paragraphs in the 2015 manifesto, and he was glad Indarsingh was reading it.