Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) leader Ancel Roget says he will not retract his statements and will not apologise to BP for saying they should take their rig and go.
Speaking to the media in front the Waterfront International Complex in Port-of-Spain, Roget said he strongly believes that BP is leveraging “to be able to get more and more concessions.”
“There will be absolutely no apology, no retraction, because we are adamant that we are correct. Our mandate is to protect those who turn the wheels of the economy, because without them we have absolutely no economy,” Roget said in the wake of suggestions by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley that the union’s comments may have hurt T&T internationally.
Roget said what T&T needs to do is ensure that while they are accepting the investment it is done in strict adherence to the laws of T&T and its codes.
“So once we have workers who at the end of the day construct the facility and go offshore and get the oil and gas out from the beneath the sea, those workers ought to be treated with the highest level of dignity and respect and they ought to be working in a safe environment,” he said.
Roget also advised Rowley to ensure that T&T makes good on any investment by ensuring that all independent regulatory bodies are in place to ensure the occupational, safety and health agency and all of its inspectors are ready and up to the task.
“He (Rowley) has to ensure that all of his line ministers are responsible for all of those agencies and that they do their work. The Government has fallen on their job,” Roget said.
He added that what Government needs to do now is to take a proactive approach and check on all of those agencies if they want to ensure they have investments that will benefit T&T.
Roget said he will defend fearlessly all workers, noting they have charged him with the responsibility of ensuring their lives and limbs are safe and they are in a good and healthy work environment.
“If we have to give Rowley a check list of advice, it has to be ensure regulatory bodies are up to mark and that they are functioning effectively with the mandate for which they were formed and to ensure that industrial relations climate is conducive of investment both locally and foreign,” Roget said.
He added that if that is done there will be no need to protest every Monday morning.
Speaking during CNC3’s Morning Brew programme on Wednesday, Rowley had said Roget’s “take your platform and go”statement was hurting the country.
Roget made the statement after BP pulled construction of the Angelin platform from T&T. The decision followed discussions with Rowley and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young with BP officials in Houston, Texas, recently.
Rowley said statements like the one made by Roget are not helpful given the need to attract foreign investment to the country.
