Rowley: Govt not raiding Heritage and Stabilisation Fund

He made the statement during a public meeting at the San Fernando City Hall Auditorium, Harris Promenade, San Fernando on Tuesday night.

Addressing a large crowd which spilled out into the adjoining corridor, Rowley took issue with UNC Senator Wade Mark’s description of government’s drawdown of US $251 million from the HSF as a raid saying instead there were specific criteria for drawdowns to take place.

“The Stabilisation Fund is specifically for the purpose that if we find ourselves losing revenue in oil and gas, there is a formula in the law that you could access this savings to take out some of that money to make up for the loss of the revenue,” Rowley said, adding, “that is the law, the Fund is there, it’s like a savings.” “You have savings and you find yourself on hard times, you wouldn’t squander your savings but you would dip into it a little bit because you are required to keep body and soul together,” he said.

“So all this dotish talk about raiding the Fund, and doing as though the government is doing something wrong, people of Trinidad and Tobago, you should go to bed and sleep soundly.

We are not raiding the Fund, we are managing your affairs.” He said the Fund had increased by US $301 million dollars between May 2016 and March 2017 with a net value of US $5.72 billion dollars.

Rowley also touched on the natural gas shortages which had forced the closure of at least two plants at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate saying the previous government had known of the situation and, despite the shortages, had entered into a separate commitment with a Japanese company to supply gas. “In August 2015, when the gas situation was well known to all and sundry, in trying to give the impression that something was happening, they approved a new gas-consuming plant at La Brea.” He said the company had asked for first take of any gas in the country.

“The last government agreed to that. And if the plant has no gas to produce the product to sell to pay the loan in Japan, the NGC would take over the entire loan, billions of dollars,” he said, adding, “the government agreed to that.” Rowley said the country was able to get out of the agreement only after there was a change in government in 2015 and Minister Stuart Young had travelled to Japan to renegotiate the contract.

He said the gas situation was being addressed by the ruling administration despite the gas supply agreement with Venezuela being undermined by the Opposition party.

“The Trinidad opposition, the UNC opposition is driving a conversation to Venezuela, to the Opposition over there that this matter must be dealt with by the National Assembly where the President (Nicolas Maduro) doesn’t have a majority.” He said this was a ploy to derail the gas agreement deal and prevent Venezuelan gas from being shipped to Trinidad to stabilise supplies.

“This deal with Venezuela is the best thing any government could have accomplished in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said, adding that the meeting with several energy companies in Houston next week was also needed to maintain Trinidad’s level of gas consumption for the downstream energy sector.