Roget vows to burn more photos of government ministers

OILFIELD Workers Trade Union (OWTU) president-general Ancel Roget says the union will stage "burnings" throughout the country every time the government puts out what he called misinformation about former state oil company Petrotrin.

Roget made this statement as he and other OWTU members burned posters of the Prime Minister, Energy Minister Stuart Young and National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds at Mosquito Creek, South Oropouche.

He first burned their photos during Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad on June 19.

Roget repeated the protest outside the former Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre on July 20.

He told the media, "I want to say that every time they (government) come with misinformation, we will go from community to community all over the country with this symbolic burning of the misinformation and setting the record straight.

"Every time (Prime Minister) Rowley comes with misinformation, we will have a burning."

He said many communities had asked the union "to come and have burnings by them. So we will be all over the country."

Roget repeated the OWTU's objection to Dr Rowley's speaking with Indian businessman Naveen Jindal

Jindal paid a courtesy call on Rowley at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, on June 17. A statement issued then by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said Jindal’s visit followed Rowley’s trip to India in May, during which he met with several business leaders and invited them to explore investment opportunities in Trinidad and Tobago. Jindal Steel and Power is one of India’s leading business houses, with a substantial presence in steel, mining, power and infrastructure.

The OPM said Jindal was interested in the potential of the Petrotrin refinery, and that formed part of the discussions at the meeting.

At the 51st annual PNM San Fernando West constituency conference at San Fernando City Hall Auditorium on July 13, Rowley said government has not received any bid for the refinery to date.

"So far, no proposal has come forward to us that is reasonable or useful."

He added that some people did not understand the responsibility that came with running a refinery.

"Some people want the refinery because they feel it's a chemistry set that you could practise things with. A refinery is a serious piece of equipment. It requires serious money to acquire. to operate and to sustain."

Roget rejected what he said were claims by the government that former Petrotrin workers received land or were offered stocks in the companies that fall under Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL), formed in November 2018 after Petrotrin was restructured.

"That is an absolute misinformation."

On the latter, Roget said no discussions of that nature took place between the OWTU and Petrotrin before its restructure.

On the former, he said, "No former employee of Petrotrin has been given land to date."

Roget referred to what he said was a Freedom of Information document the OWTU received last month.

"To date, no deed of lease has been issued to eligible former employees. The issuance of deeds of lease to eligible, randomly selected beneficiaries is being processed."

Roget said this has been ongoing since 2020.

In December 2018, Rowley announced in Parliament that the government would provide land for former employees of Petrotrin. In March 2020, the Cabinet approved the policy framework for the distribution of residential lots and agricultural plots to former employees who received termination notices.

The Housing and Urban Development Ministry said in a statement last April that its Land Settlement Agency (LSA) has begun infrastructural work at Woodford Lodge, Chaguanas Main Road, Chaguanas for the development of approximately 630 residential lots, to be allocated to former Petrotrin employees.

The ministry said developmental work at the Woodford Lodge site will be undertaken over eight-12 months, and in the interim, applications from former Petrotrin employees for this programme were being processed.

"When the works have been completed and the lots ready for handover, persons who have been identified for allocation will be notified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the LSA."