Government to blame for Angelin’s departure

“BP’s decision not to utilise Trinidad and Tobago as the location to build the multi-million dollar project must not be thrown at the feet of workers and citizens who only wanted better wages but is majorly as a result of Government failing to negotiate a new contract between the National Gas Company (NGC) and BP in a timely manner.” Lee added that “the late finalisation of these negotiations, which are taking place currently, should have been done in the second quarter of 2016 but Government continued its laissez faire approach and now BP, in an effort to meet its schedule of 2019, is forced to use other means of construction.” Lee also commented on a newspaper article in which La Brea MP and former Energy Minister, Nicole Olivierre, was quoted as saying “residents must reject disruptive, hostile behaviour and look beyond the short-term construction jobs and recognise the long-term benefits to be derived from the development of new industries in the community.” According to Lee, “it is quite ironic and unfortunate that...Olivierre has sought to put the blame on past protest action of La Brea residents and former employees involved in the building of the Juniper Platform as the core reason for Energy Giant BP opting not to construct the Angelin platform within TT and more specifically La Brea.” The UNC Chairman argued that “this incident further demonstrates the inability of the Government to create a sustainable lucrative investing environment” in the local energy sector and the wider TT economy.

He went on to claim that this country’s energy sector continues to witness “retroactive development, as all of the current plans and projects which are being hailed as successes are actually plans of the past Peoples Partnership Administration, such as the Angelin project which came into the ‘pipeline’ when the Juniper Project was started.”