Questionable hiring practices at Petrotrin

THE EDITOR: With regard to Kelvin Ramnath’s accusation that Petrosingh is now becoming “Afrotrin,” I wish to inform the public about hiring practices which took place in the HSE Department under Kelvin Ramnath’s tenure during the reign of the UNC.

In January 1997, an advertisement appeared in the daily newspaper for an Environmental Officer in the Health, Safety and Environmental Department (HSE) of Petrotrin. Applicants to the job were told by mail a few months later that that job offer was to be rescinded. I have documents to substantiate my claims. Since January 1997, no job advertisements for Environmental Officers (or any other Environmental Personnel) in the HSE Department were published. However, since that time, at least eight new people were hired, and these were not internal promotions from any other department in Petrotrin, but entirely new employees. The head of HSE during this time was Kelvin Ramnath.

One person hired is related to head of a department —  no newspaper advertisement for that job. Another person began working on the following Monday — no newspaper advertisement for that job, yet another person was hired — again no advertisement. At least two other people were further hired without any job offer advertisements being published. Both have immediate relatives working at the middle and upper management level in the company. However, when letters of application for jobs are submitted, responses request that one should apply only in response to job advertisements in the newspapers.

In the HSE Department of Petrotrin, no job advertisements appear in the newspapers, people are hired under inexplicable and very unclear circumstances, and yet the Human Resources Department ask that applications for jobs be in response to advertisements only! I have a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineer-ing specialising in oil pollution prevention and control, and my many applications for the last seven years never went beyond Petrotrin’s Human Resource Department. In frustration, I applied to several oil companies and since 2001, I have been gainfully employed with an oil company in Alberta, Canada, far away and free from political patronage. Now Kelvin, you are crying political patronage. What a joke!

SADEEK MOHAMMED
Gasparillo