People’s National Movement chairman Marvin Gonzales has strongly defended the controversial 2018 closure of the Petrotrin refinery, describing it as a painful but necessary act of leadership taken to save Trinidad and Tobago from economic collapse.
Gonzales yesterday responded to trade union leaders who, during the Labour Day rally in Fyzabad on Friday, declared that working-class citizens continue to suffer from the fallout of the refinery’s shutdown.
Gonzales countered that the current United National Congress administration has presided over an estimated 60,000 job losses in its first year in office alone, drawing a sharp contrast between the two parties’ economic management.
“The closure of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery was perhaps one of the most difficult decisions the PNM had to make during its first term in office,” Gonzales stated bluntly. “It was not a politically attractive decision, but leadership often requires making difficult choices in the national interest.”
According to Gonzales, the economic realities of 2018 left the administration with its back against the wall, making aggressive restructuring the only viable path forward to protect the country’s treasury.
“The refinery had become a major financial burden, and the company was heading toward default. Doing nothing was simply not an option,” he said.
The PNM chairman noted that a high-calibre team of professionals from both the public and private sectors, working alongside representatives from the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), ultimately concluded that restructuring was necessary to safeguard the country’s financial stability. He pointed to the current profitability of Heritage Petroleum as definitive proof that the gamble paid off, lamenting that “this important part of the story is often absent from the national conversation.”
Gonzales strongly rejected the narrative pushed in Fyzabad that the PNM abandoned state workers. He said former refinery workers received more than $3 billion in separation benefits, alongside aggressive land allocations meant to cushion the immediate economic shock for affected families.
Gonzales rubbished claims that the PNM had lost the trust of the working-class base.
“With more than 60,000 jobs reportedly lost since this government took office, serious concerns have emerged about its commitment to protecting workers and livelihoods,” Gonzales charged.
“The difference is clear: the PNM made difficult decisions to protect people, while many now believe the current Government is making decisions that place political interests ahead of the interests of the working class.” —Otto Carrington
