FFOS knocks LNG’s train IV

ONE day after plans were announced for Atlantic LNG’s train IV project, an environmental activist has questioned the true revenue that would be derived from the natural gas facility. 

In a telephone interview, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) spokesperson, Gary Aboud, also alleged that the Environmental Management Authority, (EMA), was in the business of “protecting Government’s interests” at the billion-dollar plant. Aboud, who was attending an EMA public consultation at the Point Fortin Civic Centre, said that a former official under the previous administration had once told the nation that over $1B would be earned from trains 1-3. “Now, according to official Government figures, this country earns TT $2.5 m per train, so when another Government leader stands up and says we will earn in excess of one billion, we have to question that,” he said. Aboud also reiterated that residents who live “downwind” of the plant were being exposed to a “multiplitcity” of respiratory and skin diseases. “Asthma is on the rise, so are skin rashes, broken lips and blood ailments,” he said, adding that the complaints had only started since the building of the plant.      

Aboud said a preliminary study conducted by the EMA had alleged that there was no appreciable rise in respiratory diseases among Point Fortin residents. He slammed the study as “misleading,” saying that Point Fortin was an extremely large geographical area, while the approx 400 persons who lived close to the facility were the ones mainly affected. Asked whether the group would continue its battle if the EMA nullified its objections, Aboud said “a journey to the Courts” may be the environmental group’s last recourse.