TT’s Defence Force prepares for gas strike

Lieutenant Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste, Public Affairs Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, said the Army was prepared to protect the assets of the company and to take over the business of Petrotrin.

“This is part of our mandate to protect the assets of the government both on land and maritime,” he said, adding that the army is prepared and equipped to handle any crisis at the Petrotrin base.

The Defence Force will be joining with the Petrotrin Estate Police and the TT Police service to maintain law and order in case of any unrest during the strike.

Already 14 strike camps have been set up at six Petrotrin’s compounds.

The OWTU has served the State-owned Company with notice of strike action, in light of an offer of 0-0-0 made on collective bargaining periods 2011-2014/15 and 2014-2017/18.

Both parties entered a meeting around 10am yesterday, in a last ditch attempt to come to an agreement and avoid strike action on Monday.

The Union has said should an offer of 10 percent be made on the bargaining periods, it will call off the industrial action.

As of yesterday, there was no panic buying by motorists across Trinidad.

Checks at several service station showed the usual traffic and no long lines.