Lead Editor Investigations
asha.javeed@guardian.co.tt
NiQuan’s 75 employees are doubtful they will ever be paid after being terminated by the company last week.
The company’s workers got their termination letters on Wednesday night but according to that letter, they won’t be paid the six months’ salaries owed to them until the company’s founder Ainsley Gill wins his legal matter against the Government.
The 75 employees are owed six months’ salaries since they were furloughed in September 2023 - for August and September 2023 and January to April 2024.
Their letter, signed by Gill outlined the outstanding salaries owed, and the sums owed according to the Severance Act, and included a 45-day retrenchment notice (as they had no notice period) as well as an ex gratia payment.
The company acknowledged the unpaid sums owed to pensions held by Guardian Life of the Caribbean Limited.
“These outstanding premiums will be paid into a Pension Plan that you may currently have or may open with a Pension Company,” it said.
It said that all payments “will be made upon receipt by the company of sufficient proceeds following a successful international arbitration claim currently being pursued against the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes arising from material breaches of the extant Bilateral Investment Treaty” between T&T and the United States.
Gill suggested three recruitment agencies the workers could tap into for future employment.
“With respect to any company equipment that you have in your possession (eg, laptop, mobile handset), the company does not require the return of these items,” he said.
Letters of reference, he said, would be provided by the first week of May.
The employees were asked to sign a letter saying they would agree to those terms.
However, employees expressed uncertainty about signing the letter and concern about whether they will ever be paid. Some are seeking legal advice since NiQuan hasn’t paid their NIS or PAYE or any contribution to their pension plans.
The wind-up petition for the company is before the courts and the plant will be mothballed.
Gill had said that the company did not get the financial support from its financiers and investors which it had expected which is why the company had to terminate staff. In an email to all staff last week Gill said the company had run out of money keeping the plant operational.
“Further it is likely that a winding-up order will be made by the High Court pursuant to a winding-up petition brought against the company by two unsecured creditors. The next hearing before the court is scheduled for the 3rd of May 2024. As a result of this pending appointment of a liquidator by the Court, the company is unable to extend the current furlough past the date of the 30th of April 2024. Therefore, at 5 pm on the 30th of April 2024, your Contract of Employment will be terminated and the Company will issue individual formal termination letters,” he said.
Employees were furloughed in September after the plant was shut down following the death of Massy Energy employee Allanlane Ramkissoon on June 15, 2023, and the termination of the gas supply contract by the T&T Upstream Downstream Company (TTUDEOCL) over a US$21 million debt.
Legal Claim
NiQuan is a subsidiary of NiQuan Energy LLC, a United States-registered limited liability company.
Gill, through the American-registered NiQuan Energy LLC, is pursuing a claim against the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago under the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules for breach by the GORTT of the extant Bilateral Investment Treaty between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America.
Gill is basing this defence on the preliminary but what he describes as a “favourable” outcome from mediation between the company and the T&T Upstream Downstream Company (TTUDEOCL) at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) delivered by Lord Neuberger of Abottsbury on January 24.
Abottsbury had said that the gas agreement was not terminated and that TTUDEOCL was obliged to supply gas to the plant.
On January 23, TTUDEOCL’s attorneys said it did not accept that the contract had not been terminated and that it had an obligation to supply gas in accordance with that contract.
In his defence, filed against former vice president David Small’s wind-up action, Gill had disclosed that in parallel with the ICC arbitration proceedings, NiQuan and its parent entity NiQuan Energy LLC would also be pursuing its claim against the Government.
“These parallel legal proceedings are supported by NiQuan’s lead financial arranger and noteholders, shareholders and other stakeholders. In the interim, the NiQuan Gas To Liquids (GTL) plant is under preservation of assets in silent mode. Further, the earlier legal proceedings initiated by NiQuan in the Trinidad Courts seeking injunctive and declaratory reliefs against TTUDEOCL and the GORTT to compel the provision of the contracted guaranteed gas supply for NiQuan’s GTL plant to restart operations have been discontinued,” he said in the court documents.