OWTU ready to rumble if Govt fails to address Petrotrin issues

“We are prepared to hit the streets if it comes to that, next week, to ensure that perhaps those who may not be paying attention, pay attention to what we are saying with respect to the importance of this issue,” an adamant Roget told reporters, yesterday, during a news conference outside of the International Waterfront Complex.

The briefing followed a two-hour meeting with Energy Minister Franklin Khan, at the ministry’s head office, to address pertinent issues relating to falling crude oil production.

The OWTU’s audience with the energy minister, came one week after union officials met with Khan, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus to hammer out issues relating to Trinmar’s operations at Petrotrin.

Arguing that Trinidad and Tobago was facing “a precipitous fall” in indigenous crude production, Roget said the country needed to quickly ramp up production levels.

“These issues are urgent and it cries out for the type of management so that not the company but the country can benefit as a result of increased crude oil production,” he said.

Flanked by OWTU executive members, Roget said the union presented two suggestions to Khan of ways to increase production, one of which offered a revamp of the existing governance model for Petrotrin.

“The monstrosity that is Petrotrin is a merger of some five companies coming together into one described as the Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

“But there are a number of inefficiencies in the way in which Petrotrin is operating currently and these are transferred to lack of productivity, lack of production which at the end of the day result in duplication and wastage.” Roget alleged that the people at the helm of Petrotrin benefitted from the situation “because they are in top positions.” “Petrotrin was structured to suit persons in top positions rather to suit the needs and interest of the country,” he claimed.

The union leader again called for the State company to be urgently restructured.

“It ought to be broken up into manageable segments, manageable divisions - exploration and production, Trinmar operations, refining and marketing and a proper HSE management, input so that as you ramp up production you will be able to pay close attention to health and safety issues and so we will not have all of this oil spilling into the sea and into the waterways,” he said.

Roget said Petrotrin was in dire need of proper management.

“As we speak, we are not confident that the persons that are placed at then helm of Petrotrin that they can deliver the benefit to the country as a result of that monstrosity they are in charge of. And we prevail upon the Minister of Energy that Petrotrin ought to be restructured,” he said.

Roget claimed Khan had welcomed their presentations and vowed to act upon them by talking to the board of management to put structures in place to realise benefits.

Roget said he also called on Khan to address outstanding wage negotiations for Petrotrin employees for the periods 2011-2014 and 2014-2017.