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alexk
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National Petroleum Staff Association president Joseph Roberts is admitting that something had to be done about the state oil company Petrotrin, which has been badly managed over the years. However, he is concerned about the social impact of the closure of its refinery operations and the impact it will have on communities which depend on the company and the issue of compensation for workers who are being sent home.
The association represents about 200 monthly paid workers at the supervisory level at Petrotrin and while the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) represents the majority of workers.
“We in this together,” Roberts said yesterday, as he pointed out the state Petrotrin had found itself in was not because of the workers “who people are describing as slackers, but it is because of bad management decisions, World GTL being one of them.”
Roberts admitted that changes had to be made at Petrotrin, which had been mismanaged.
“The decisions made by previous boards led us to this situation. We had several failed projects. The South West Soldado project, which was supposed to add 3,000-plus additional barrels of oil never happened. It was poorly managed,” he said.
Roberts described it as a “watershed moment” for the company and the country.
“We have been in the oil business for over 100 years, there has been significant struggle to bring us to where we are today, this is really a watershed moment.”
He did not blame the Petrotrin board chaired by Wilfred Espinet for the current scenario, however, saying, “This is going to be targeted to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the Rowley-led Cabinet. Mr Espinet came to do a work that he was assigned by the Rowley-led Government and he is fulfilling his mandate.”
Roberts said the decision to send home 1,700 people was significant. He said talk about the closure of the company had been circulating even before Tuesday’s announcement.
“We had been hearing through cooler talk that that was going to happen. I would have thought the Government would have thought this thing out really carefully,” he said.
But he said the workers are yet to hear anything about compensation.
Roberts said, “I expect no less than how the Caroni workers were compensated.”
Caroni 1975 Ltd was closed by the Patrick Manning administration in 2003 and workers were given a voluntary separation package which included cash and land for housing/agricultural production.
Contacted yesterday on Roberts’ comments, Petrotrin chairman Wilfred Espinet said he was not surprised that “people are starting to posture on the negotiations,” as exit packages are formulated for the company’s more than 3,000 employees.
Roberts contends that while Petrotrin has been described as a “ward of the state, we have contributed significantly to the building of Trinidad and Tobago.” He is also concerned about the social impact of the closure of the refinery, noting that there are many small businesses which depend on Petrotrin and its employees for their survival. He was particularly concerned about the impact on communities like Marabella, Santa Flora, Forest Reserve and Fyzabad. Point Fortin, he believes, will not be severely impacted because of the Atlantic LNG Plant.
Roberts said while the intention is to transfer to a “terminal arrangement,” where fuels will be imported for local consumption, “the entire Trinidad and Tobago will feel the brunt because the cost of living will go up.” He said while he understood that as a business Petrotrin had to be a profitable entity, there are other factors to be considered, there must be some kind of social responsibility and the conversation must be on both sides.