The T&T Government’s decision to impose a ban on nationals of Nigeria and other west African countries because of the Ebola outbreak could damage its oil and gas relationship with that part of the world, Anthony Paul, managing director at Association of Caribbean Energy Specialists (ACES), warned yesterday. Paul, a senior consultant in the local energy sector, said the decision would affect an already volatile relationship between the governments.
“We have not managed the relationship well at the government-to-government level. If you looked at what happened in Ghana, there was a deal that was supposed to be signed and it did not come off for all kinds of reasons,” he said in reaction to Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan’s announcement on Thursday that people coming from Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Nigeria would be denied entry to T&T due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
He added: “West Africa is suffering and to add more suffering does not help. I went to Liberia about two years ago and I was working on a project there. In July, I was working on a Liberian project with Liberians in the United States. Part of my proposal was for them to come to Trinidad. Now they cannot.
“All businesses with Africa are being affected but the worst hit is energy as that is the biggest relationship T&T has with Africa now.”
T&T nationals affected too
Paul said there were also dozens of T&T nationals working in Nigeria and their livelihood could be affected. “I was in Nigeria and Ghana not too long ago. I was also in South Africa recently and they pulled me aside and asked if I was in west Africa.
“There are many Trinis working in west Africa, in areas like Nigeria and Liberia, in oil and gas. Some actually live in Nigeria and rotate in and out of Africa every four weeks or so. My company is doing a project with a Nigerian group and we had a meeting in London two weeks ago with them,” Paul said.
He said he was recently involved in getting an opportunity for 60 Nigerian students to come here to study at the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) and the measures taken by the Government would affect that arrangement “Everything was put in place then, put on hold in July and August, because of the Ebola outbreak. That means millions of dollars that must be spent on hotel and accommodation because these students are being held up in Nigeria.
“It is the state government in that part of Nigeria that will have to pay for that. There are also 90 Nigerian students going to Tobago because of this programme. The Barbadians have put in place protocols to allow them to come in. What worries me about the T&T response is it is just a broad brush,” he added. He said Nigeria had been Ebola free for more than 42 days so the measures taken by the Government “do not seem to make sense.”
“If you are a Liberian living in the United States and you have not been to Liberia in ten years, then you still are not allowed into T&T. “What worries me is the lack of protocols. I am all for managing the country’s economy and its health and prevention but you cannot do it to people who have no cause to be excluded. We need to do it but in a more targeted way,” Paul added.