OILFIELD Workers Trade Union (OWTU) president-general Ancel Roget says the union will stage "burnings" throughout the country every time the government puts out what he called misinformation about former state oil company Petrotrin.
Roget made this statement as he and other OWTU members burned posters of the Prime Minister, Energy Minister Stuart Young and National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds at Mosquito Creek, South Oropouche.
He first burned their photos during Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad on June 19.
Roget repeated the protest outside the former Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre on July 20.
He told the media, "I want to say that every time they (government) come with misinformation, we will go from community to community all over the country with this symbolic burning of the misinformation and setting the record straight.
"Every time (Prime Minister) Rowley comes with misinformation, we will have a burning."
He said many communities had asked the union "to come and have burnings by them. So we will be all over the country."
Roget repeated the OWTU's objection to Dr Rowley's speaking with Indian businessman Naveen Jindal
[caption id="attachment_1098425" align="alignnone" width="1024"] OWTU president Ancel Roget holds a burning picture of the Prime Minister at a press conference at the Mosquito Creek in La Romaine on July 25. - Photo by Venessa Mohammed[/caption]
Jindal paid a courtesy call on Rowley at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, on June 17. A statement issued then by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said Jindal’s visit followed Rowley’s trip to India in May, during which he met with several business leaders and invited them to explore investment opportunities in Trinidad and Tobago. Jindal Steel and Power is one of India’s leading business houses, with a substantial presence in steel, mining, power and infrastructure.
The OPM said Jindal was interested in the potential of the Petrotrin refinery, and that formed part of the discussions at the meeting.
At the 51st annual PNM San Fernando West constituency conference at San Fernando City Hall Auditorium on July 13, Rowley said government has not received any bid for the refinery to date.
"So far, no proposal has come forward to us that is reasonable or useful."
He added that some people did not understand the responsibility that came with running a refinery.
"Some people want the refinery because they feel it's a chemistry set that you could practise things with. A refinery is a serious piece of equipment. It requires serious money to acquire. to operate and to sustain."
Roget rejected what he said were claims by the government that former Petrotrin workers received land or were offered stocks in the companies that fall under Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL), formed in November 2018 after Petrotrin was restructured.
"That is an absolute misinformation."
On the latter, Roget said no discussions of that nature took place between the OWTU and Petrotrin before its restructure.
On the former, he sai
