Rethink refinery position, Imbert

THE EDITOR: I am one of the owners of a business in the Marabella area. I speak on behalf of my fellow businessmen who are experiencing a headache that we did not create.

Our livelihoods have been decimated with the closure of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery. The pandemic obviously made the situation considerably worse.

We in the surrounding business communities of the refinery were very much looking on, anticipating the successful outcome of the long-awaited refinery deal between the Government and Patriotic Technologies Ltd.

My goodness, has Finance Minister Colm Imbert or any of his Cabinet colleagues ever taken a drive through the Marabella area at any time during the day? It’s like Sunday every day of the week, with barely a soul in sight.

We cannot continue like this for much longer. This is not fair to us, we who pay taxes and employed our citizens throughout this difficult covid19 period.

We now understand that Imbert met with Patriotic Technologies and commend him for that. But we would also want to see meaningful discussions continue.

And considering the amount of time that has passed, the Government should take the opportunity to get this refinery up and running in the shortest possible time with Patriotic Technologies for the benefit of the remaining businesses that have not yet closed their doors.

S BANFIELD

via e-mail