Opposition Leader: Like Maduro, Rowley wants power with no responsibility or accountability
When confronted with difficult questions, members of this Government become cantankerous and evasive.
· When Rowley was asked this week about the Government’s position on the ongoing saga over Atlantic LNG’s Train one, he immediately deemed the issue off-limits to probing questions from reporters.
· Similarly, he has avoided any accountability regarding the appeal of the AV drilling matter where his best friend and personal lawyer are key players.
In one breath Rowley says, “allegations of dictatorship and Government restrictions are rejected.”
In another breath on the same day, he calls for restrictions on transparency by saying “One cannot conduct these negotiations, such sensitive and far-reaching negotiations…you cannot conduct it on the front page of the newspaper…otherwise you will disadvantage the population of TT”.
I remind Rowley that he is a public servant and not the supreme dictator of Trinidad and Tobago. The country’s energy assets, like Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) are not his personal property. He cannot evade accountability and transparency.
His incompetence and secrecy have resulted in devastation of our once vibrant energy sector:
· Atlantic Train 1 heading for a train wreck.Rowley has spent $250M of taxpayer dollars on the Turnaround of Train 1 to extend its operational life, although he was told by BPTT that they had no gas for Train 1 and NGC had no offtake contracts for LNG. As far back as 2019, instead of working on a solution, the government downplayed this issue as elections were approaching.
· Petrotrin has been dismantled.Over 10000 people lost their jobs. Petrotrin is now run by Rowley’s bungling personal lawyer, who coincidentally is late in appealing a decision that could see Rowley’s best friend walk away with a billion dollars.
· The Point Lisas Industrial Estate, the largest contributor to our GDP, is now on the verge of collapse. This is because of Rowley’s now-infamous Houston negotiations, where he and Stuart Young outsmarted themselves.
Aspiring dictator Keith Rowley is disturbingly following the blueprint of his friend Maduro in destroying the energy sector and economy of a once prosperous nation. The similarities between what happened in Venezuela and what is occurring here currently should be of concern to all citizens.
Like Venezuelan dictator Maduro, Keith Rowley wants power with no responsibility or accountability. The ongoing debacles at Atlantic LNG, Petrotrin and the Point Lisas Industrial estate will have a devastating effect on the lives of all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition