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Vol. 31, Issue 45 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN November 6-12, 2020
REFINERY
OFFER
UNSURE
Scramble to revive major
CARICOM, T&T refinery
By Bert Wilkinson
Trinidadian authorities had
put the Petrotrin refinery up
for sale to private buyers. A
group calling itself the Patriotic
Energies and Technologies
Company Ltd comprising
former oilfield workers, union
leaders and foreign investors
was picked as the preferred bidder,
earning the right to revive
the lifeline refinery but all indications
are that its bid is struggling.
Earlier this week, cabinet
threw a spanner in the plans
and works of Patriotic’s bid to
take over, resuscitate the closed
plant and reemploy thousands
of breadline workers, saying
the bid lacked proper details
regarding environmental compliances,
statutory approvals,
purchase price and taxation
requirements. It was therefore
moving to explore other
options, meaning second and
third placed bidders.
But an appeal from the
union for a review has found
favor with Prime Minister
Keith Rowley as he expressly
appointed a review committee
and gave Patriotic time to get
its act together.
The committee reexamining
the bid has until month end to
submit its report even as concerns
are growing about time
wasting and the steady deterioration
of plant infrastructure
as the months roll by.
Until its closure in late 2018,
Petrotrin had supplied CARICOM
clients with up to 25,000
barrels a day and a further
38,000 to buyers outside of the
region.
Like the sugar industry in
neighboring Guyana, the refinery
had been the linchpin of
economic activity and life in
large parts of South Trinidad.
Its closure was devastating to
workers, small, medium and
large scale supporting businesses
and led to major political
problems for the governing
PNM administration.
From all appearances, the
PNM had given every assistance
and indication that it had
wanted to help Patriotic with
its strong oilfield union connections
especially so because
it also had strong local links
and inputs.
Minister of Energy, Franklin
Khan expressed regret at
A person holds a sign as people rally the day after the 2020 U.S. presidential election
while votes continue to be counted, outside the TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.,
Nov. 4, 2020. REUTERS / Shannon Stapleton
Let every vote count: Caribbean pols
By Nelson A. King
As the outcome of the US
Presidential Elections remains
on a cliffhanger, as of Thursday
morning, with Democratic
Presidential nominee Joe Biden
narrowing the path to victory
over incumbent Republican
President Donald J. Trump,
Caribbean American legislators
in New York have joined
the Democratic Party in urging
that every vote in battleground
states be counted.
“We worked hard to
keep Brooklyn blue this year,
and I am proud to congratulate
all our local Democratic
winners today,” said New York
State Assemblywoman Rodneyse
Bichotte, the daughter
of Haitian immigrants, who
heads the Brooklyn Democratic
Party, in a message to constituents
Wednesday night,
alluding to the symbolic color
of the Democratic Party. “I
thank all our field operatives,
staff and poll workers who
make our democracy possible.
“In New York, it will take
a week or more for absentee
ballots to be tabulated, but
it is clear that our state and
our county are overwhelmingly
blue,” added Bichotte, who
represents the predominantly
Caribbean 42nd Assembly District
in Brooklyn. “We must
remain patient.
“Although the wait is stress-
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