TT owes China hundreds of millions

He made the revelation at the post-Cabinet media conference and also announced a planned visit to China next April,

“We owe the Chinese a lot of money because that aspect of our attempt to diversify our economy using what we have to do that, which was using our energy to go into aluminium, was rubbished by some people who flatly refused to acknowledge that in so doing we would have removed ourselves from the potential for involvement in this industry and also we would have incurred significant expenses,” he said,

He reported that they are currently engaged with the Chinese about this country’s liability to their government and agencies “to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars resulting from the closure of that project.” The aluminium smelter project was introduced by the Patrick Manning administration but was scrapped by the People’s Partnership government in 2010 when it came into power,

Rowley said they are also reviewing and are very close to a decision on whether this country should return to Alutech, which was the industry that was meant to use aluminium to manufacture car wheels and other products at e TecK Park,

He said the Economic Advisory Board had reviewed the proposal to go forward with Alutech and its examination of the industry showed that countries which started after Trinidad and Tobago had planned to are “doing very well.” “And we have to ask ourselves where we would have been had we started our business when the government of the day had said ‘that is a business we should go into’,” Rowley said,

He said he expects that very soon they would conclude discussions with China and he plans to visit the country next April,

“Hopefully by then we would be in a position to have softened our position and have some cooperation with respect to how we treat with the Chinese situation,” he said,

Also yesterday, Rowley was asked about his relationship with President Anthony Carmona following the controversy about a meeting between the President and National Security Minister Edmund Dillon,

“I am not engaged in any war of words (with the President),

And from this very podium I made it quite clear that I would not be engaging in any such,

“And secondly...as far as I am aware there is an Office of President and there is an Office of Prime Minister functioning very well,” he said,