An international investor has expressed interest in state-owned Petrotrin and is willing to partner with the Oilfields’ Workers Trade Union (OWTU) in a joint venture lease of the refinery, OWTU President General Ancel Roget confirmed yesterday.
Roget made the comment after his contingent met with Petrotrin board representatives yesterday at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, to present the union’s plan to take over the refinery and keep it in business.
“This is a win-win situation and anyone refusing that needs to explain that to the population,” Roget said after the meeting.
“The board posed a number of questions to the union and we are expected to continue communication until a meeting next Thursday. There are many other options than to send Petrotin workers home and closing it down.”
He said the burden on the country would be worse if the Petrotrin workers were added to the rising unemployment figures.
The OWTU move comes on the basis of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s statements during his address to the nation on the future of Petrotrin on September 2. In that address, Rowley offered the OWTU first dibs on the purchase of the refinery. The union followed that up by delivering a letter to Rowley on Tuesday in which it indicated its interest in accepting the offer.
“Our proposal is not one for the OWTU to own the refinery, I want to make that point. Our proposal is founded on the principle that these assets belong to the people of T&T,” Roget said, adding any arrangement that the union enters into would benefit the people of T&T.
“We responded to the call by the Prime Minister. In the meantime, we will be discussing with our business partners and those parties, a number of them, who already expressed interest in some sort of a joint venture.”
Roget said now that the board has that information, the secret investor could be made public after next week’s meeting.
“There is a major social impact cost that the Government has not taken into account. It is not just about the workers, closing down the refinery will not profit the country at all,” he said.
In a brief interview following the meeting, however, Roget said he was not overly confident of the board’s reception, but only because there was no trust.
On Tuesday, Rowley issued a statement reiterating that the refinery would be shut down. He noted that since August 21 he had told the union that the refinery would cease to operate. In that statement, Rowley said once the refinery is removed from the rest of the operations then it will be available “for attention”. He said that if the OWTU presented an acceptable business proposal, the Government will treat it with respect. However, Rowley added, if more attractive proposals became available the Government would treat with them in the interest of the taxpayers.
“We cannot trust the Prime Minister and we cannot trust the Minister of Energy,” Roget said yesterday.
“Doesn’t this tell you something about this man? He is now introducing into the equation that he is willing to give his friends, his financiers, his associates what he promised to the people and he exposed himself.
“We are now calling his bluff. The ball is in the court of the Prime Minister, the Government, the board.”
He added: “I do not want to anticipate any response because this is a Government that we cannot trust, this is a Prime Minister that we cannot trust.”
Roget said it was passing strange that the Government planned to shut down the refinery because they couldn’t locate an investor or buyer but now can deal with the refinery.
“We have been inundated with calls and interests since we announced that we were looking for a partner,” he said.