Enill resigns as NGC chairman

Jun 27 2022

Conrad Enill resigned as chairman of the National Gas Company (NGC).

In an internal memo sent to the board of directors, presidents and general managers, Enill confirmed he will stepdown from June 30, 2022, to take up the position of Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to Guyana.

“Further to my appointment as High Commissioner for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, with residence in Georgetown, with accreditation to the Republic of Suriname and the Caribbean Community, I have advised the Minister of Finance as Corporation Sole and the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries of my resignation as Director and Chairman of the National Gas Company and all its subsidiaries and affiliated companies with effect from 30th June 2022.”

In the notice, Enill heaped praise on the NGC staff who worked with him during his three-year tenure, which had been littered with challenges.

, “I believe that at this time of extreme challenges the leadership of this group must continue to be focused and available to the men and women who do an excellent job every day on behalf of our country. I have every confidence that the group will continue to exceed expectations as it continues in the service of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. I therefore wish to place on record my thanks for the extraordinary support during my term of office (July 2019-June 2022) and wish the NGC Group continued success.

One of the priorities in his In-Tray will be resolution of the refusal of a Local Content Certificate to a 51`percent-owned firm committed to providing vital services to the international petroleum industry in Guyana, generating jobs, creating wealth, sharing expertise, employing nationals and contributing to the local and regional economy.

The Local Content Secretariat should advise the logistics company on submitting information as Local Share ownership is relatively new to Guyana and the rules are not always understood by small companies trying to navigate complex regulations.

President Irfaan Ali said a new agreement between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) is a “living document” and signals a partnership to benefit both countries. It provides for renewed and enhanced cooperation in trade and investment, addresses the flow of goods and services and pursues enhanced cooperation in agriculture and food security, security, energy, infrastructure, tourism, education, sport and culture.

By now Guyana should have experts in energy and investment who can ensure proper procedures to boost services to this crucial industry. Many Guyana citizens migrated to Trinidad during the last century to work in UWI and the international petroleum industry, doing jobs across the value chain that locals could do, without hostility or jingoism.

As the HQ of Caricom, enjoying historical economic, social and cultural links with Trinidad & Tobago for almost 2 centuries, Guyana cannot risk its reputation on the world stage, as a leader determined to uphold values of democracy, freedom, justice and fairness, so eloquently stated at the UN, OAS and Commonwealth Summits. Friends and patrons of Guyana look forward to a moral, ethical, equitable and proper response to this dispute, instead of a bulldozer used to crack a peanut, which will heap wrath, rage, fury and anger on the petrostate for generations and hinder Caricom progress forever.

Bureaucracy is killing Caricom investment, from Trinidad to Belize. Judiciaries, ministries and agencies are stymied by corruption, incompetence, malfeasance and abysmal governance. Guyana recently overcame election fraud in which the USA alone was able to restore democracy and install the election victors, after failure of OAS, UN, EU and Commonwealth diplomats.

RAMPS missed some requirements for Local Content certificate- needs advice

Jun 27, 2022

Guyana’s Local Content Secretariat confirmed that it denied RAMPS Logistics a local content certificate, saying it did not fulfill the requirements as set out in the law. Head of the now divested Trinidad-owned company, Shaun Rampersad asked the Secretariat for reasons for the denial and noted that the company was ready to remedy its shortcomings, as it stands to lose in a major way. RAMPS Logistics was confident that it had reached all the requirements to be added to the local content registry.

But in a letter to the company’s attorney, C.V Satram, Director of the Local Content Secretariat Martin Pertab said that from the list of documents submitted by RAMPS Logistics the certificate could not be granted for a number of reasons.

Among them is the fact that Ramps Logistics submitted Articles of Incorporation (without the schedule on share transfer restrictions annexed, although the said Article expressly refereed to such an annexure) which only authorised the issue of 100 ordinary shares at the price of $1.00 GYD each.

Pertab claimed that other documents submitted by Ramps Logistics purports that Deepak Lall, who the company said it sold 51 per cent were sold for $210 million, ultimately exercises voting rights representing 51% of the total number of issued shares at a value of $1,000,000USD, while Ramps Logistics Limited (“Ramps Trinidad”) exercises voting rights representing 49% of the total issued shares at a value of $960, 680USD.

“No Amended Articles of Incorporation nor the corresponding resolution were submitted to the Secretariat which authorised the increase in the total number of shares Ramps Logistics is authorised to issue. As a result, Ramps Logistics does not satisfy the fifty-one percent beneficial ownership required under the Act,” the letter noted.

Pertab added no signed, filed and certified Company Resolutions, nor extracts of the share register or a share certificate were submitted to the Secretariat which authorised and evidenced the sale, transfer or issue of the number of shares allegedly issued to Guyanese national, Deepak Lall, nor Ramps Trinidad. The most recent annual return showing the information required in relation to the allotment and issue of shares was not submitted to the Secretariat.

Ramps Logistics reportedly only submitted a draft of an unsigned financial statement which still did not set out the total number of shares issued and who were allocated those shares.

Ramps Logistics submitted a Notice of Change of Directors filed with the Commercial Registry and signed by the certified clerk as a true and certified copy detailing five Directors. The initial submission contained information showing that only 40 % of the Board of Directors were Guyanese.

But Pertab said Ramps Logistics resubmitted another Notice of Change of Directors, which included Deepak Lall, to increase the initial 40% of Guyanese nationals to 60% with three Guyanese nationals and two non-Guyanese nationals sitting in the executive management of Ramps Logistics. These changes still did not meet the required 75% as stipulated in Section 2 of the Act.

Several other reasons were preferred in the letter by Pertab, who said as a consequence of the review, and based upon the foregoing observations, the application of Ramps Logistics was refused.

RAMPS Logistics was reminded of the offences set out at sections 6(7), and 23(2) and (3)(a) of the Act. These offences include the offence of submitting any false or misleading information for the issuance of a certificate of qualification to be registered on a Local Content Register which is punishable by a fine of $10,000,000 on summary conviction.

In a brief response, the company acknowledged that it had received the letter and said it made “reasonable documentation requests” that its lawyers are already working on submitting.

“We are grateful for the prompt response by the Secretariat since we held our press conference on June 23rd, 2022. We look forward to working together to promptly resolve this situation. Ramps Logistics Guyana is committed to meeting all reasonable and lawful demands of the Secretariat,” the statement added

10 million First Citizens shares for sale

First Citizens Group Financial Holdings (FCGFH) is offering more than ten million of its shares, it said in a release to the media on Tuesday.

But interested investors will have to move quickly, as the shares will only be available up until July 22 at 4 pm.

In the release, First Citizens announced it was offering a total of 10,869,565 ordinary shares, which will be limited to $50 a share.

Investors must have a brokerage account and submit an application form.

To open an account, a person must have a valid government identification card or driver’s permit, proof of address no more than two months old, and a chequeing or savings account number. Non-nationals are required to have full-colour notarised copies of two forms of valid government-issued identification, notarised proof of address, proof of income and a local bank account number.

To apply for the shares, one needs to provide a brokerage account number, government-issued photo identification, a bank account and exact payment with a TT dollar cheque in the exact amount of the desired shares. The release said subscriptions valued at $50,000 and more would require a declaration of source of funds.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced the divesting of the shares in his 2022 budget speech in October. He said the additional shares in the bank would be issued in an attempt to raise about $550 million.

In 2013 a total of 49,495,665 shares were put up for sale, but the IPO was marred when then Chief Risk Officer, Phillip Rahaman was accused of buying 659,588 FIRST shares and later sold it to relatives. Rahman agreed to pay a fine of $750,000 “without any admission of liability.”

Former independent senator Subhas Ramkhelawan and his company, Bourse Securities also faced fines by the TT Securities and Exchange Commission for its involvement in the IPO scandal. Ramkhelawan paid $1.3 million.

Kamla’s team leads UNC once again

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was re-elected UNC political leader as she and her Star Team made a clean sweep of the party’s internal elections on Sunday.

In declaring victory at her Siparia constituency office close to 11 pm, Persad-Bissessar thanked the approximately 13,000 UNC members and supporters who came out despite heavy rain earlier in the day to vote for her and her Star Team.

She said there would be no virtual meeting on Monday evening, as UNC officials and members will be helping people in their various districts who were affected by the rain and any flooding that happened on Sunday.

Voting was still in progress as she spoke, but Persad-Bissessar said approximately 97 per cent of the vote was in favour of her Star Team.

Preliminary results showed she was far ahead of her sole challenger, former Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan, in several areas.
In La Horquetta/Talparo, Persad-Bissessar got 455 votes while Khan got eight. In Oropouche East, Khan could only get three votes and Persad-Bissessar got 146.

Former UNC MPs Ramona Ramdial and Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, who ran as independent candidates like Khan, failed to get any traction in their bids for elections officer and party organiser.

Those posts were won by Star Team candidates Don Sylvester and Ravi Ratiram respectively.

Persad-Bissessar thanked UNC members and supporters for the overwhelming mandate they gave her and her slate to lead the party. Regardless of whether she held a post in the party or not, she vowed to continue to serve the UNC until death.

“I am so proud of the UNC family. The loyal and loving members of the UNC came out in their thousands. My resolve to fight is even stronger.”

Without calling names, Persad-Bissessar slammed UNC members who she claimed insulted the party supporters at every opportunity while asking for their support.

“Our party has shown, the rank and file of the membership has reinforced my resolve to promote the children of our rank and file.”

She said there was no room for any political dynasty, caste and class in the UNC any more.

To unnamed detractors and defeated opponents in the elections, Persad-Bissessar said, “Your constant attacks, your constant ridicule and attempts to belittle the rank-and-file members of our party in order to advance your own selfish aims have again proven to be worthless.”

She told these people they had to respect UNC members the way she and her team did.

“If you want to come together, you are welcome – but you must stop your thoughtless and crazy behaviour.”

Persad-Bissessar said she and the UNC’s new leadership will now focus on preparing the party for local government elections this year and the general election in 2025.

“Mr Rowley and your team, here we come. We are ready.”

Khan commented, “I accept the results but I will only concede in a free and fair election.”

He pointed out that Persad-Bissessar and her loyalists had seemed unable to replicate their performance in Sunday’s internal elections in the last two general elections.

“Maybe if one participates in elections and is able to manipulate the total process with an unfair upper hand which is the result of incumbency, then the result is a unanimous win.’

Ramdial agreed with Khan that the elections were unfair, and claimed they were rigged.

“MPs and senators were out in full force at every voting venue to ensure votes for the Star Team,” she said.

Ramdial also claimed complaints about this UNC members and supporters went unheeded by the elections management committee.

Ramadharsingh was satisfied he did his best to encourage UNC members and supporters to vote for him.

But he also said, “The (Star Team) slate seems to be very difficult to compete with for many reasons.”

In conceding defeat, Ramadharsingh promised to serve Persad-Bissessar as political leader, the party and the country in whatever role he is called on to do so.

He believed Persad-Bisssessar would be “the next prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.”

A North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) opinion survey released on June 22 had predicted a clean sweep for Persad-Bissessar and her slate.

It also reported that interest in the elections was low, saying many UNC members, supporters and floating voters did not believe Persad-Bissessar and her slate did not help the electorate view the UNC as an alternative government.

Winning candidates

• Political leader: Kamla Persad-Bissessar
• Chairman: Dave Tancoo
• Deputy political leaders: Dr Roodal Moonilal, David Lee, Jearlean John
• Vice-chairman: Khadijah Ameen
• Education officer: Vandana Mohit
• Research officer: Saddam Hosein
• Elections officer: Don Sylvester
• Party organiser: Ravi Ratiram
• Treasurer: Neil Gosine
• Tobago regional co-ordinator: Taharqa Obika
• Policy and strategy co-ordinator: Sean Sobers
• International relations officer: Wilfred Morris
• South co-ordinator: Shanti Boodram
• Central co-ordinator: Barry Padarath
• Northwest co-ordinator: Eli Zakour

Piarco accused could walk free after Privy Council ruling

THE STATE’S 22-year-old criminal case against a former government minister and a group of businessmen arising out of the construction of the Piarco Airport terminal building has been thrown out by the Privy Council on Monday. They had been charged with a multiplicity of offences.

In a 26-page ruling, the Law Lords wrote that the decision of late chief magistrate Sherman McNicolls to commit the accused to stand trial was tainted by apparent political bias.

The decision comes on the heels of a US judge’s ruling disqualifying Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, and the US law firm Sequor Law from a multi-million-dollar civil asset forfeiture case, on the basis of Armour’s previous work as an attorney for one of the defendants.
That matter is under appeal in the US. The case has been dragging on for the last 18 years.

The latest blow to the State’s case threatens to derail another set of criminal charges still under challenge in the local courts, legal sources said.

The Privy Council, in its analysis of the appellants’ case, linked the conviction of former prime minister Basdeo Panday, the move to impeach former chief justice Satnarine Sharma, McNicolls’ corruption claims against Sharma and the intervention of former attorney general John Jeremie. The panel supported the position that there was sufficient information in the public domain to support a claim of apparent bias.

McNicolls had dismissed an application to recuse himself on the basis of apparent bias, and the local courts upheld his decision.

The judgment said: “The above is sufficient for allowing both appeals.

“The constitutional claim succeeds because a tribunal which is seen to be impartial is part and parcel of both due process under section 4 (of the Constitution) and a fair hearing in terms of section 5.

“However, as will be apparent, if there were any doubt on the matter the observer would have a number of other important issues to assess.”

It said these would include “the absence of any reasoning for the Chief Magistrate’s dismissal of the recusal application and the transparent attempt to avoid scrutiny by labelling it as frivolous and vexatious.”

When all these “various sources of concern” were considered together, the Law Lords concluded, “The observer would be likely to agree with the appellants’ submissions that by January 2008 the Chief Magistrate was hopelessly compromised.”

It conceded, “Given that everything was happening in the full glare of publicity his mind must have been in turmoil,” but nevertheless accepted the State’s submissions that if the bias challenge were to fail, there would be no scope for success in the claim for constitutional relief.

“The concerns as to due process and fair hearing are dependent on the same factors which underpin the judicial review (lawsuit). To countenance an inherently vague and novel challenge based on the alleged lack of moral authority of a judge who is otherwise entitled to preside would be something of a slippery slope and difficult to reconcile with established safeguards of judicial independence.”

For these reasons, it said the board “allows both appeals and quashes the decisions of the Court of Appeal.”

It explained that in each case the Appeal Court had erred “by failing to hold that the test for apparent bias was satisfied and that recusal should have followed. Both the application for judicial review and the claim for constitutional relief are granted with the consequence that the Piarco I committal decision of 7 January 2008 falls to be quashed. Any other consequential matters are remitted to the High Court.”

The ruling directly affects Piarco I and could also affect Piarco II, which was left unfinished after the magistrate hearing the case retired before completing the matter. A similar application of apparent bias was also made in that matter and was dismissed.

Lawyers say it is now open to the defendants to sue the State for compensation for the breach of their constitutional rights.

The Piarco cases  

The charges against former government ministers, a group of businesspeople and public officials stemmed from a multi-million-dollar investigation by Canadian forensic investigator Robert Lindquist in 2000.

In 2002, the first group were charged with offences alleging theft of $19 million during the construction of the Piarco Airport terminal between 1995-2000, in what is commonly referred to as the Piarco I corruption charges.

Those charged in that case are:

1. Former finance minister in both the PNM and UNC administration Brian Kuei Tung
2. Former PNM national security minister and attorney Russell Huggins
3. Former Nipdec chairman Edward Bayley
4. Maritime executives John Smith, Steve Ferguson and Barbara Gomes
5. Ishwar Galbaransingh, chairman of Northern Construction Ltd
6. Amrith Maharaj, financial director of Northern Construction Ltd
7. Businesswoman Renee Pierre, then Kuei Tung’s companion.

Smith was murdered in July 2021 and Bayley died after a prolonged illness in 2006.

In 2006 multiple charges were filed against several people, including American businessmen and companies, in a broader conspiracy to steal over US$200 million by setting up ghost companies, in what is referred to as Piarco II.

Those charged in that case included:

1. President of Calmaquip Engineering Corporation Raul Gutierrez Jr, of Florida
2. The principals of Birk Hillman – consultants in the airport project – Eduardo Hillman-Waller and Ronald Birk, also of Florida.

In 2007, Gutierrez, Hillman-Waller and Birk pleaded guilty to similar charges in Florida and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to six years. They also agreed to pay US$4 million each in compensation to Trinidad and Tobago.

They were accused of conspiring between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2001, to obtain contracts and payments totalling $1.6 billion during the construction of the new airport.

The offences are alleged to have occurred in the US, TT, The Bahamas and elsewhere between September 1, 1996 and December 31, 2005.

Preliminary Inquiries in all Piarco Airport fraud cases to restart

….Privy Council rules that former Chief Magistrate McNicolls should have recused himself from one case
by

DEREK ACHONG
Mon Jun 27 2022

The Privy Council building in London, England.

The protracted preliminary inquiries into four sets of fraud charges related to the controversial construction of the Piarco International Airport have to restart after almost two decades.

Delivering a judgement, this morning, the United Kingdom-based Privy Council ruled that now-deceased former chief magistrate Sherman McNicolls should have recused himself from one of the cases before he committed a group of former government ministers, public officials, and business people to stand trial in 2008.

The decision of the five Law Lords was based on McNicolls’ alleged conduct in presiding over the summary trial of former prime minister Basdeo Panday for allegedly failing to declare a United Kingdom bank account to the Integrity Commission.

McNicolls convicted Panday of the offence and applied the maximum penalty. The conviction was overturned on appeal and the charges were eventually stayed due to allegations of political bias.

McNicolls claimed that while presiding over the case in 2006, insurance company Clico attempted to pay him a $400,000 deposit to repurchase a $3.6 million parcel of land he had purchased from its subsidiary Home Construction Limited.

Clico’s then-senior executive Lawrence Duprey was one of the witnesses in Panday’s case and testified that the money in Panday’s account was a scholarship given by the company for Panday’s daughter.

McNicolls also reported to then-attorney general John Jeremie, SC, that then-chief justice Satnarine Sharma had contacted him to discuss his handling of Panday’s case.

Criminal proceedings were brought against Sharma but he was discharged after McNicolls refused to testify before the tribunal.

McNicolls did testify in separate impeachment proceedings brought under Section 137 of the Constitution but Sharma was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing.

The Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) brought two disciplinary charges against McNicolls but he was allowed to complete his role in the Piarco 1 preliminary inquiry and the charges were not determined by the time he retired in 2010.

In determining the appeal, the Privy Council had to decide whether the local High Court and Court of Appeal were correct to rule that there was that fair-minded and informed members of the public would not have concluded that there was a real possibility that McNicolls would be biased based on his conduct in Panday’s case.

The board disagreed with the local courts.

“When all the various sources of concern are considered together the observer would be likely to agree with the appellants’ submission that by January 2008 the Chief Magistrate was hopelessly compromised,” Lord Malcolm, who wrote the judgement, said.

“Given that everything was happening in the full flare of publicity his mind must have been in turmoil,” he added.

About the cases

The charges in the four cases were brought in 2002 following an investigation by Canadian forensic investigator Robert Lindquist, two years earlier.

In the first case, commonly referred to as Piarco 1 and which was the subject of the appeal before the Privy Council, a group was charged with offences related to the alleged theft of $19 million.

The group included former finance minister Brian Kuei Tung; former national security minister Russell Huggins; former Nipdec chairman Edward Bayley (now deceased); Maritime General executive John Smith (now deceased), Steve Ferguson, and Barbara Gomes; Northern Construction Chairman Ishwar Galbaransingh and Financial Director Amrith Maharaj; and Kuei Tung’s then companion Renee Pierre.

Some of the group and other public officials were also slapped with separate charges over an alleged broader conspiracy to steal US$200 million in another case, commonly referred to as Piarco 2.

Foreign nationals Raul Gutierrez Jr, Ronald Birk, and Eduardo Hillman-Waller were also charged as part of that case.

There were also two other smaller cases, referred to as Piarco 3 and 4.

In 2019, a High Court Judge upheld a legal challenge over the Piarco 2 case after former senior magistrate Ejenny Espinet retired with the preliminary inquiry almost complete.

The ruling meant that the preliminary inquiry into the Piarco 2 case had to be restarted afresh before a new magistrate along with the Piarco 3 inquiry, which was also before Espinet and left incomplete before her retirement.

The Piarco 4 preliminary inquiry which involves Pierre is also yet to be completed.

Recently there has been public concern over the status of a  multi-million civil asset forfeiture case being pursued by this country against some of the accused persons and companies in the United States.

Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, and the country’s US lawyers were disqualified from continued participation in the case after a judge ruled that Armour allegedly downplayed his role in representing Kuei Tung in the local proceedings several years ago.

Armour has denied any wrongdoing as he claimed that he informed the court of his role based on his memory and that he was denied an opportunity to correct the record after he had an opportunity to check his records.

While the decision is being appealed, former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi has been appointed as the substitute client representative for this country.

Methanex willing to pay more for gas in T&T says its CEO
by
Curtis Williams

Sat Jun 25 2022
GUARDIAN

President and chief executive officer of Methanex Corporation, John Floren, has told an investor conference in Louisiana, USA that his company is prepared to pay higher prices for natural gas in an effort to restart its Titan methanol plant in T&T, but not so much that it makes losses when prices are low.

Floren told the conference last week: “The economics of the gas will be different from the economics we have traditionally enjoyed with Titan. So we will pay a little bit more for the gas, but we want to sign a take or pay contract to invest the tens of millions of dollars we have to, to get the plant restarted, we would want to be cash positive through the cycle, so that’s our goal, and we won’t sign a contract that assures losses during the bottom end of the cycle and that’s part of the challenge that we are having with the Government, as the Government renegotiates with the upstream, they certainly know the downstream’s position. It is not only ours but our competitors, the ammonia guys and LNG.”

The Titan methanol plant has been down for almost two years as Methanex could not reach agreement with the National Gas Company (NGC) over the issue of price. It has led to several workers losing their jobs.

Ian Cameron, Methanex senior vice president, finance and chief financial officer of the company who also has responsibility for its T&T asset, told the conference that there is commitment by all those in the value chain to get the Titan plant up and running. He admitted that the challenge had to do with the price and availability of natural gas as this country continues to suffer from shortages.

He explained: “So the challenge in Trinidad is gas, so I was down in Trinidad 12 days ago, there was a big energy conference in Trinidad, and it was all about the future, and just as background Trinidad is a country fairly reliant on oil, gas and petrochemicals, and LNG and it’s a big part of the economy, and as a big picture concept, the government is very incentivised to make sure all these operations are sustainable over the number of years and you can really feel that energy.”

Cameron added: “When I was in Trinidad I met the senior people in government, NGC and also some of the CEOs of upstream and all of them are very committed to ensure the investment and to continue to ensure all the assets in Trinidad and operating. That’s the goal, the challenge is timing, there are a lot of contractual relationships that are converging about the same time, so the upstream contracts are expiring in the next year or two, and the contracts with the LNG producers are expiring in the next year or two, the same with many of the petrochemical operations as well.

“There are a lot of things that need to happen as well in order for the gas contractual regime to work quickly, so that’s the challenge, but as I say, the Government and the upstream are very incentivised to somehow figure out how we find a way to share the economic rent that we think is available, between the upstream, NGC, the government, and downstream.”

In the circumstances Cameron said he was “cautiously optimistic” that Methanex will be successful in getting Titan up and running.

Floren and the rest of the Methanex executive are predicting strong methanol demand and constrained supply scenarios that are likely to lead to continued strong prices for the commodity. Good news no doubt for T&T.

He said; “The methanol industry is expected to experience demand growth, limited addition in supplies in the next five years which drive a favourable industry outlook. This supply demand dynamic should support pricing. We also have the potential to further increase that capability with improved gas availability in Trinidad, New Zealand and Chile.”

Floren revealed that Methanex controls 13 percent of the global market-twice the size of its next closest competitor.

He said the company has a global presence across all key markets and has in the last 10 years returned US $2 billion to investors and invested US $3 billion to grow the business.

Rich Summer, Methanex global head of marketing said the company estimates the global methanol market at between 85 and 90 million tonnes with three broad areas of uses for the product.

1) ↓Traditional chemical applications (50 per cent of demand)

2) ↓Methanol to Olefin (15-20 per cent)

3) ↓Energy related applications (30 to 35 per cent) MTB and bio diesel as examples.

He said Methanex was seeing strong demand in chemical applications and this usually mirrors growth in GDP rates. Summer noted that as the world has had strong GDP growth, so too has the demand for methanol for chemical applications.

There has also been strong transportation demand growth in the last two years with the need for cleaner applications, which has been helping methanol demand growth.

Summer told the conference, “So overall we are seeing strong demand and obviously we are continuing to monitor a lot of the global economic headwinds that are out there to see what impact that can have on forward demand growth.”

“Over a five-year period, taking a 3 per cent growth rate, we would see that the industry needs about 14 million tonnes of new supply to balance the market.”

Summer explained that China’s effort to reduce green house gas emissions meant more methanol being used in applications like cooking and transportation fuels.

Summer said the shipping industry was likely to play a major role in increasing demand for methanol as a clean burning fuel.

“We expect this to continue to gain interest and momentum, so we say there are 65 dual fuel vessels, within 2025/26, these are vessels, including our own 19 vessels, that are actually on order and will be in the water by those dates.

“You will see the big name here is Maersk and Maersk has 13 container ships on order and we are starting to see a lot of interest across different segments in the marine space, container ships, dry bulk, ferry, cruise lines, tug and barge, are all looking at that.”

Summer told the investment conference.  He explained that the outlook for supply is not very good in the short term with some new supply to come from Malaysia and Iran, but noted that Iran is very uncertain because of plant technology issues and limited gas availability.

“Firm new supplies are likely to be insufficient to meet growing demand and the industry will need to operate at higher rates to close the market.

“There are a number of other projects in the Middle East, Africa and Russia but we feel a lot of those are at very early stages…When we see the industry balance going forward we look at it as a really tight market,” Summer posited.

He said to meet the increased demand you will have to get more supplies out of markets like Trinidad, but there are gas supply challenges in doing that.

Unions march to President’s House, Parliament

Protesters shout “Rowley must go” outside the Red House on Friday. – AYANNA KINSALE

Over 300 members of ten unions congregated outside President’s House and Parliament on Friday to present a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister to the President, Opposition Leader, Speaker, and Senate President. OWTU president general Ancel Roget said the group’s next event would be a motorcade on July 3.

Speaking to the crowd gathered across the Queen’s Park Savannah outside President’s House, Roget said the motion was different from measures the unions had carried out previously.

“It’s a comprehensive motion. If it was raised in Parliament it would not see the light of day. Having raised this motion in the workers’ parliament and the workers support the motion of no confidence, that’s a significant development that must not be understated at all.”

He called on citizens to be part of the mobilisation on July 3.

Trade union members hold placards expressing their discontent with the Prime Minister outside the Red House on Friday. – AYANNA KINSALE

“We call on the people to support the initiatives we will be putting on the ground to make sure they listen and put measures in place to alleviate pressure, hardship, suffering, and pain of ordinary poor people and workers. And, of course, that they put in place a proper and decent wage offer so that people can live in difficult times, and to stop this massive retrenchment that is taking place in our land.”

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar left Parliament to meet with the union leaders and their members, and receive the motion.

“The government has said that the reason it cannot pay backpay is that it would have to borrow money to do so. But if they had paid workers their backpay on time, they would not have had to borrow. I call on the government to borrow what they have to pay the workers, since they have managed to borrow to pay rent and lawyers and to construct buildings.”

She said the UNC had always been grounded in peace, bread, and justice, like the unions.

“That’s what we’ve always stood for. And when we were in government, we tried to include the workers at every step of the way. Maybe some mistakes were made, but at every step of the way, the workers are the blood, sweat, and tears of this country. Therefore now that we’re seeing the suffering across the length and breadth of TT, the impact on families – I am a mother, I am a daughter, I am a sister, and I am a woman, and I know what it is like when jobs are being lost in this country.

“The cost of living has gone skyrocketing, there are no solutions, there is no policy, no strategy on the part of a very clueless government.”

Persad-Bissessar promised to stand in solidarity with the protesters.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar show support for trade union members who delivered a written motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister to her, the President, the Speaker and Senate President on Friday. – AYANNA KINSALE

“I welcome the day when the workers in the land stand with other right-thinking citizens to stand up for peace, bread, and justice.”

She told workers from Lake Asphalt, who were asking what was happening with their pensions and NIB payments, that the UNC would raise the issue in Parliament.

Under the People’s Partnership administration, public-sector workers were initially offered one per cent over a three-year period. which was eventually increased to five per cent. The dispute was referred to a special tribunal and strike action was taken by workers.

Public Services Association president Leroy Baptiste commended the workers who turned out to demonstrate. He said the government had set out to destroy the lives of workers by design.

“We are out here because they are deliberately getting rid of all permanent jobs, they have our people in temporary and contract positions for years and, what is worse, paying us peppercorn salaries.

“So we have small salaries and we can’t approach the bank because we’re temporary. We must not settle this rounds for no peppercorn rates, talking about an increase of four per cent when gas price is 121 per cent. That cannot happen this rounds.”

Roget said the motorcade would begin in Palmiste at 10 am and end at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Lake Asphalt employees protest over unpaid wages

Approximately 200 employees of Lake Asphalt, displeased over unpaid wages, protested outside the Ministry of Works and Transport, London Street, Port of Spain on Friday afternoon.

The protest was led by the president general of the Contractors and General Workers Trade Union, Ermine De Bique-Meade.

Speaking to Newsday, she said, “These workers gathered here today are of Lake Asphalt (1978) Ltd. They are weekly- and monthly-paid workers, junior staff workers and senior staff workers.

“This company was moved from under the Ministry of Energy to under the Ministry of Works and Transport.

“The monthly-paid workers have not been paid for two months and the weekly-paid workers have not been paid for five weeks. We were told a few minutes ago that a cheque was written for $2.5 million, but that can only pay workers for one month.”

De Bique-Meade claimed the reason for this, according to the Ministry of Works and Transport, was that Lake Asphalt was only moved under its authority in June, and therefore, the Ministry of Energy was responsible for May’s outstanding payments.

She complained, “It wasn’t the workers who moved the company from one ministry to a next, it was the Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, on a political platform, who indicated that Lake Asphalt would be moved to under the Ministry of Works and Transport.”

“Therefore, it should not be that the workers are made to suffer for something entirely out of their control.”

“We are being told that a cheque had been drafted for the month of May by the Ministry of Energy, but when they found out that Lake Asphalt would be moved to another ministry’s jurisdiction, that cheque was not delivered.”

She said the workers were enduring the anguish and suffering as a resultof having to wait to be paid, adding, “Some of these people have not been paid since the end of April.”

One worker who did not want to give his name, but appeared to be in his 40s, said, “I have a family to support. I am the one responsible for paying the bills and paying for my children to be transported to school. This backlog is causing us a lot of distress and difficulty. It isn’t fair.”

In addition to the outstanding wages, De Bique-Meade said the management of Lake Asphalt had not paid employees’ pension plan contributions for a year.

“Workers who have retired or are about to retire will suffer the most, as the pension plan is not being honoured.

“Money is also being taken out of the employees’ salary and it is not being remitted to NIB, BIR and health surcharge.”

Another unnamed employee, who appeared to be in her 30s, said “We are concerned about our future. We don’t only want to be paid what we’re owed, but we are concerned that the same thing will happen again in the future.

“We want the government to come to the table with the union and sit down, bring whatever plan they have as it pertains to Lake Asphalt. This cannot continue the way it is now…we have families to take care of.”

CWU head: Khamal Georges hiring unfair to retrenched TSTT workers

Communications Workers Union leader Clyde Elder has said the appointment of former CNC3 editor Khamal Georges is unfair to the recently retrenched 486 TSTT workers.

In a brief phone interview with Newsday on Friday, Elder described Georges’ appointment to Amplia Communications as a slap in the face to the workers who were let go.

George’s position in the company has not yet been identified.

“Amplia Communications is owned by TSTT, so if TSTT has no money, Amplia has no money,” he said. “His qualifications are not the issue. What is so special about him?

“If (TSTT) has no money to keep 468 workers, how can they have money to bring on Georges? If it have no money for them, it have no money for Georges either.”

He said TSTT’s claim that it could no longer afford to pay those workers was disingenuous if tit could pay Georges.

Elder had earlier claimed that Amplia had hired Georges at a significantly higher salary than his predecessor.

On Friday, he said he could not confirm Georges’ salary offer.

Last Sunday, speaking at the UNC’s weekly media conference at the Opposition Leader’s office in Port of Spain, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh asked where and when the vacancy at Amplia was announced.

“We understand that Georges was hired to do the same job as a recently retrenched worker who was earning $25,000 a month, but he will be earning $75,000 a month.”

Indarsingh called on the Prime Minister and TSTT CEO Lisa Agard to notify the public of the terms and conditions of Georges’ contract: “What special-duty allowance has he been granted, and what expertise and background he brings to this post.”

Indarsingh claimed Guardian Media Ltd, Georges’ and Agard’s previous employer, had an unusually close relationship with the government and said Georges apparently had a monopoly on interviewing the Prime Minister.

He also noted former PNM candidate for Barataria/San Juan Jason Williams was now host of CNC’s morning programme