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Khan: Petrotrin’s closure an act of love, not hate
Yvonne Webb
ENERGY Minister Franklin Khan accepted a notion that “political interference” could have caused the demise of state-owned Petrotrin, and pledged that his government would stay away from the day-to-day operations of the restructured companies.
Months after Petrotrin was closed and its employees, the majority who lived in the fence line communities, were retrenched, Khan promised, “the south-west peninsula will boom again. I give you that assurance.”
He was put in the hot seat on Thursday at the Conversations with the PM event at the Palo Seco Government Primary School, when the Prime Minister was a no-show. Dr Rowley was involved in a teleconference Caricom heads of government meeting on the crisis in Venezuela.
Responding to a barrage of questions, Khan apologised to residents affected by Petrotrin’s closure, saying it was an act of love, not hate. He even took blame for some of the temporary and causal workers being sent home without any benefits.
Khan identified the former Trinmar as “the goose that laid the golden egg” but did not get the capital injection it required. He said the aim, by the end of the year, is to boost oil production from 34,000 to 42,000 barrels of oil per day, up to 60,000 2022.
He said opportunities will be created through the new companies created from the restructuring exercise – Guaracara Refining Company, Paria Fuel Trading Company, and Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd. He said it did not matter if people would be working for Petrotrin or Heritage, but what mattered was that they were working in the energy sector.
Khan said special privileges would be given to people in the fenceline communities as government develops other industries, including the dry-docking facility at La Brea. However, he advised there would be no handouts. He urged potential employees not to go after “menial” jobs alone, but get certified, as highly technical skills would be required.
Most importantly, he said, what is required is a change in attitude and good work ethics.
Promising to give truthful and honest answers as to the state of play, Khan took personal blame for former employees who “slipped through the cracks,” including one man who said he worked for 33 years but went home “without a cent.”
“I take the blame,” Khan said, explaining a fair formula was used to determine who among the temporary and causal workers were entitled to termination benefits.
“The company could not afford to pay every single person who made a ten-days in Petrotrin, a termination benefit.” He promised to look into a similar complaint brought by Althea Bruno who worked at the Petrotrin Sports Club for 27 years, but also went home with her “hands swinging.” Bruno said the company was attempting to “disown” employees who worked at the various clubs at Fyzabad, Pointe-a-Pierre, Forest Reserve and Point Fortin, claiming they were not Petrotrin employees. The minister said he was aware of the situation in a letter which was copied to him.
Sharing the platform with Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte, Housing Minister and Point Fortin MP Edmund Dillon and La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre, Khan stoutly denied the claim by one contributor who said Petrotrin was profitable.
“Petrotrin was not making a profit. Petrotrin was losing approximately $2 billion a year because it was an integrated oil company involved in marketing, refining and exploration and production. When we analysed the entire business, we realised it was not sustainable in that construct.
Give false hope, sing, clap, march and take de ppl money...The_Honourable wrote:Let's see what Roget going to do now
The_Honourable wrote:Let's see what Roget going to do now
This... Men have no idea..nervewrecker wrote:Someone might take it and go guyana with it. It has better use there. Best they take me there with them one time.
Guyana = the promised land.
Here following venezuela and we on a sure trip there
Yeah I'm getting a kind of "China of the Caribbean" vibe from them.nick639v2 wrote:This... Men have no idea..nervewrecker wrote:Someone might take it and go guyana with it. It has better use there. Best they take me there with them one time.
Guyana = the promised land.
Here following venezuela and we on a sure trip there
Those who know me know some of my clients and with their new establishment being launched, it's just the start. Guyana is going to be an industrial stronghold and business hub very soon
Sweep under mat....get back field.....Ben_spanna wrote:OK woohoo, so what about AV drillin? everybody done forgot about how much fake oil we had?
I said all this last year.The_Honourable wrote:The Point a Pierre Refinery could be reopened soon. The announcement came from Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley while speaking at the 2019 Energy Conference at the Hyatt this morning, hosted by the T&T Energy Chamber.
Bullchit, it was done with BWIA and Caroni.sMASH wrote:go through with that, it have potential to launch the largest industrial court case in history.
u cant lay off permanent people, then hire back new staff. albeit, its a new company now, the business was only shut down for a short period, and nothing integral to the company had changed, justifying a shut down in the first place.
so, the shut down could be unnecessary, rendering the layoffs illegal.
selling of the operations to a different company, to do the same thing the previous company did, would show that the previous management did not do all that is in their power to keep the company running... cause the new one doing the same thing!
and that now, depending on who take it over, could lead to charges surrounding corruption, selling off state assets to freinds and family....
u can fire people if u close ur business, but if u open back up soon, u didnt need to fire, especially if u doing the same thing u was doing before.
Yes it was under the name of the Sugar manufacturing company Ltd.sMASH wrote:well caroni was not reopened.
sMASH wrote:^^wtf,, never knew that...
Numb3r4 wrote:The Patriotic Energies and Technologies Co. Ltd
Who are they exactly?
Key people?
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