JUST LIKE CARONI, NO LANDS FOR EX-PETROTRIN WORKERS

ALMOST six years after Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley promised lands for former Petrotrin workers, not a single square foot has been allocated.

This has been confirmed by the Land Settlement Agency (LSA), the State organisation assigned to distribute lands for home construction to ex-workers of the mothballed Pointe-a-Pierre operations.

The circumstances are similar to the announced plan more than 20 years ago for former workers of Caroni (1975) Ltd. to be granted agricultural lands.

Former oil and sugar workers appear destined to suffer parallel fates.

“To date, no deeds of lease have been issued to eligible former employees,” LSA’s Corporate Secretary Lorraine Heath said in a letter to Christopher Jackman, who made a Freedom of Information request on the Petrotrin matter.

In the letter, dated June 17, 2024, Ms. Heath added: “The issuance of deeds of lease of eligible randomly selected beneficiaries is being processed.”

Rowley made an announcement in Parliament on December 16, 2018, of the allocation of lands to the retrenched workers, days after Petrotrin ceased activities.

He said the Government “will provide priority access for former Petrotrin workers who require State support to own a house, with initial emphasis on those who are first-time homeowners.”

He added that lands were identified for residential sites in south-west Trinidad, where the oil company conducted exploration and production.

He also listed areas where “suitable agricultural land” will be assigned to former Petrotrin workers “who are either already in agriculture and wish to expand or those who have an interest, some experience or a business plan for agri-business.”

The LSA revealed that 2,816 applications were received during the advertised application period from July 15, 2020 to August 17, 2020.

The applicant poll was reduced to 1,493.

The agency has been given the responsibility of carrying out infrastructural workers on the residential lands, Ms. Heath said.

The Corporate Secretary wrote that the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries “must first identify, develop and provide the necessary infrastructure” for agricultural plots.

She stated that the LSA “does not have responsibility for this aspect of the programme’s implementation.”

She listed the qualifying criteria for agricultural or residential lands.

Rowley told Parliament following the company’s closure that “the Government’s approach and attitude are that it must give the former Petrotrin workers an opportunity for success beyond the financial packages offered.”

He said that “the opportunity to own a housing lot and access land and funding for agro-business will provide stability for those who access the opportunities announced today.”

The displaced workers are still waiting while the Government has shortlisted a foreign-owned company to take over Petrotrin’s operations.

In 2003, then-Prime Minister Patrick Manning said Caroni workers who accept voluntary separation would be given residential and agricultural lands by a State agency, Estate Management and Business Development Company (EMBD).

A total of 7,866 daily-paid and 1,154 monthly-paid workers were to benefit.

The lands were spread across Caroni’s 76,000 acres of former cane fields.

More than two decades later, 3,818 residential and 577 agricultural leases are still to be issued.

Many beneficiaries have died.

Respective governments have blamed litigation and red tape for the slow pace of land distribution.

But large parcels of land have been granted to prominent national officials and elites for manufacturing, commercial and personal projects.

Large acreages are occupied by franchise stores, construction companies, marketing and distributing firms, various other businesses, warehouses, houses and other commercial operations.

There are large shopping malls on arable former farm lands, while the country’s annual food import bill has jumped to $7.3 billion.

A senior member of the Rowley administration has a registered business on previous Caroni lands at Couva.