Williams: Govt wants safe workplace

Government is seeking to acquire land for the laying of natural gas pipelines "across the island." The gas lines are necessary to "provide required feedstock and power generation," Williams explained during debate on a land acquisition motion.

He said Government has given a mandate to all its State companies — including NGC which is managing the project — to comply with the law involving safety and environmental concerns.

Speaking just two days after two NFM workers were seriously injured on the job, Williams said Government was seeking to ensure that industrial practices were as safe as possible because it did not want injuries or fatalities at the workplace.

But Williams said this was not a perfect world. "The reality is that some of the industries that we are involved in, involve risk, and quite often risks to humans and others," he said.

Williams also announced Government was seriously considering building a port in the Mayaro/Guayaguayare area. He said there was currently a small port facility run by bpTT, which under the terms of its establishment could be used only by the owner and for a specific purpose.

Meanwhile, he noted, the country’s oil and gas exploration activity out of the East and South-East coast was burgeoning. "This activity which will take a lot of manpower will last for quite some time and therefore there will be a need for much servicing of rigs off the East coast. So we see the need to develop a port in the Mayaro/Guayaguayare area which services the East coast," he said.

He added that a properly manned port on the East coast would create opportunities for entrepreneurship. He added that Government would also have to develop supporting infrastructure — an expanded road network, housing, public utilities and telecommunications sector. He said the implications and feasibility of constructing such a port were currently being studied.

Opposition MP Adesh Nanan pointed to the NFM incident which occurred as a result of a gas leak. He said when natural gas leaks, one could not smell it unless an odorant is added to it, (to alert persons that the gas is leaking.) He wondered if this was the case at NFM.

"It is in this context that one looks at the destructive capacity of natural gas," he said, noting that the 56-inch pipeline had already been laid with gas passing through it. He hoped the contractor Bechtel and the sub-contractor, API have complied with international standards, especially as they relate to corrosion control.