Abdulah: Sign the agreement now

MSJ political leader David Abdulah slammed both the PNM and the UNC over the closure of Petrotrin and allegations of a secret deal to sell the company's Pointe-a-Pierre refinery to Patriotic Energies and Technologies Co Ltd, respectively. Patriotic is owned by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU).

At the the virtual launch of the party's general election manifesto in Fyzabad on Thursday, Abdulah recalled the Prime Minister's statement on July 15 that Government will sign off soon on an agreement with Patriotic to purchase the refinery before the August 10 general election.

Noting that no agreement has been signed as yet, Abdulah challenged Dr Rowley to "sign the damn agreement now." He said once the agreement is signed "hundreds of millions of dollars" from Patriotic's financiers would come in to do the work to get the refinery operational again.

Abdulah, who is also the MSJ's Pointe-a-Pierre candidate, said the restart of the refinery would stimulate activity in communities in South Trinidad that were affected by the refinery's closure in 2018. He declared that light and hope will come back to those communities once "the flame is turned back on at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery."

But Abdulah said this would not absolve Rowley and the PNM of the original sin of closing the refinery in the first place. With equal measure, Abdulah slammed the UNC for failing to save Petrotrin when it was in government.

Rejecting allegations from UNC candidates David Lee and Dr Roodal Moonilal about a secret deal to sell the refinery to Patriotic, Abdulah said he had no questions to answer because there was no secret deal.

He explained there was a process through which Patriotic became the preferred bidder to purchase the refinery. Abdulah also SAID, as former MPs Lee and Moonilal were aware of this fact. He added that both men were also aware that last September, a statement was made about Patriotic's successful bid and the next steps the company had to take to complete the acquisition.

Focusing specifically on Moonilal's claims, Abdulah told him, "Hush your mouth."