Khan warns OWTU on ‘loose statements’

Energy Minister Franklin Khan yesterday cautioned the OWTU over “loose statements” on shutdown the country if Petrotrin is sold to the private sector.

“I want to caution them that some of the loose statements don’t go down well,” Khan, the PNM chairman said at the party’s post general council media briefing at Balisier House yesterday.

He denied recent reports that the state-oil company would be sold to the “one per cent” of leading business interests, and of plans to send home thousands of workers, as the OWTU claimed last week. Khan said restructuring “doesn’t mean a significant reduction of staff.”

While the challenges facing Petrotrin “are real and grave”, Khan said Government still believed Petrotrin “can become a viable entity”.

He said the board continues to assess a recent report on Petrotrin and has been mandated to have consultations on the future of the debt-ridden company.