Stop playing games

Oil started appearing on the Coffee, Carat, and Pointe Sable beaches on the same day that Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, in an address to the nation, lamented the drastic fall in oil production that the nation has seen since 2006. Rowley said oil production fell from 143,000 barrels a day in 2006 to 66,000 a day up to July in 2016.

Still, large deposits of oil blackened the beaches of La Brea where many fishermen ply their trade in a community which has suffered from sharp drops in fish sales since the oil spill disaster of 2013 and the more recent “fish kill” that put many fisherfolk and their families on the bread line.

“We are calling on the Energy Minister to stop playing games and come out and let us know where the oil came from,” La Borde cried, hinting that he knows the cause of the spill.

The fisherman claims that he and his companions called Petrotrin last Friday and expressed their concerns about the work being done on an oil well near the Port of Brighton in La Brea.

According to La Borde, Petrotrin began plugging the well in preparation for its abandonment since July, but the company did not take proper preventative measures to avoid the spillage of oil onto the beach.

Petrotrin’s Corporate Communications Head of Publications and Production, Joy Antoine, refused to answer Newsday’s questions over the phone, but indicated that a press release on the matter would be sent.

No press release was received up to the time of this article’s completion. Antoine also advised to send questions via email.