Former mayor of Point Fortin Francis Bertrand is a man who has lived most of his life in Point Fortin and is steeped in the history of the community. He told the Business Guardian that that Pt Fortin has played a crucial role in the economic welfare and development of T&T. While Point Fortin is the smallest borough in T&T, it has produced millions of barrels of oil which this country has exported and the revenues derived used for the construction of much of its infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.
Bertrand noted that crude oil was first discovered in the area in 1906 and it was the basis of Point Fortin moving from an agriculture village into a major oil-producing centre. The town grew with the oil industry between the 1940s and 1980s, culminating in its elevation to borough status in 1980.
Bertrand explained that it was Point Fortin's black gold that attracted so many people from the islands, including Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia and even Tobago to Point, as they tried to earn a living. One of the persons who was attracted to Point from Grenada was the late trade unionist Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler.
At the height of its production, Point Fortin and environs were responsible for about 60,000 barrels of oil a day out of Trinmar and another 30,000 onland. It was also responsible for its own small refinery, which was eventually shut down.
Bertrand said Point Fortin also had one of the best trade schools and trained many of the leaders in the industry, including the late Keith Awong, who was the managing director of Petrotrin and who served on several boards. After the end of the oil boom, Point Fortin was hit hard by economic recession in the 1980s and the closure of its oil refinery. Construction of an liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant by Atlantic boosted the revenues coming out of Point, but it did not necessarily boost the economy of the borough.
Bertrand said this is why Point Fortin Borough Bay was instituted to encourage the use of culture to generate revenues for the community.
Facts about Point
Point Fortin is located in southwestern Trinidad, about 32 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of San Fernando. At the beginning of the 20th century, (before the discovery of oil) Point Fortin was an agricultural community with three distinct and separately owned cocoa and coconut estates. These estates were sparsely populated. Employment was provided for a small number of workers who depended on the estates for their living accommodation as well as their food and other supplies. Travel in and out of Point Fortin was by coastal steamers as there was no road into or out of the area. The inhabited area was located along the seacoast. In 1907, the Trinidad Oilfields moved into Point Fortin on an expedition for the exploration of oil and sank its first oil well on the La Fortunee Estates. That company turned out to be the only one that survived successfully, although there had been several similar expeditions by other oil companies. The company later changed its name to the United British Oilfields of Trinidad, then became Shell Trinidad Ltd. In 1974, it was acquired by the government and named Trintoc or the T&T Oil Company, today known as Petrotrin.
The change from an agricultural- to an oil-based economy made a significant impact in Point Fortin. There was rapid development in the construction of dwelling houses, plant, pipelines and oil tanks in the area. Point Fortin was booming and labour, particularly skilled labour for the new technology, was scarce and posed a major problem. Trinidadians did not seem to be attracted to the area. Although people migrated from all over the country, the population in 1931 was less than 500. There were very few houses, no schools, and recreational and other facilities. As a result, Trinidadians who went to work in Point Fortin never took their families with them. However, this changed when the company realised that in order to attract and retain workers, they needed to develop the area. This encouraged families to settle in the area, and coupled with a growth in the commercial sector, brought about such facilities as a post office, police station as well as other governmental agencies and banks.
In the 1960s, the town began to see a decline due to massive retrenchment. The Government tried to revive the economic activity and eventually succeeded in establishing the Dunlop Tyre Factory. However, the economic revival was only achieved in the early 1970s as a result of the oil boom and the Government's acquisition of Shell Trinidad Ltd.
(Wikipedia)