Protesting Tofco employees, who are working on the $13 billion bpTT Juniper Platform at La Brea, have been invited by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to Parliament tomorrow for discussions with members of the inter-ministerial committee on safety and security issues that have been plaguing them for years.
The workers got the ear of the PM when she went to La Brea yesterday to open formally the new police station.
Armed with placards, the silent protestors stood a short distance from where the ceremony was taking place, under the watchful eyes of the police, including acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams.
In a strategic move, however, the PM came out of her official car before reaching the station and greeted the group of approximately 30 workers and listened attentively to their complaints.
In the end, she was able to charm them into not only discarding their placards but to escort her to the ceremony and later join in singing not only her praises but happy birthday to her. She celebrated her 63rd birthday last week.
The workers, who are represented by Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union and group leader Masimba John, told the media earlier that they were working under very unsafe conditions and needed the PM’s or anyone in authority’s intervention, as the project they were working on was significant to the development of T&T’s oil and gas sector.
Daryl Nelson said the project was 30 per cent finished and had another 18 months before total completion. However, he said they could not continue to work under present conditions for that length of time.
“One of the main problems is the sand blasting. It have some big stones in the walkway where we are working, people slipping and tripping and bursting away their knees,” Nelson said.
At the end of the ceremony, Persad-Bissessar called the remaining protestors to join her as she announced she was inviting them to meet the inter-ministerial team, including Labour Minister Errol Mc Leod, which deals with labour and work-related matters.
“On Friday, I invite you to join us in the committee room at the Parliament and Minister McLeod and other ministers will meet with you and speak with you and seek to resolve your issues,” she said.
In his address, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, who has oversight of Udecott, which undertook the project, said more than a decade ago the late National Security Minister Martin Joseph first put forward the idea for a new station in La Brea but it was never built.
Persad Bissessar said they were glad to complete and deliver the state-of-the-art facility as a promise to secure the well being and lives and future of the people of T&T. She said the station would form a part of the national security grid which would tie in with the National Operations Centre and facilitate joint operations to improve the effectiveness of national security.
The PM said their approach to crime fighting was guided by an understanding of the impact of the people, communities and the economy as a whole.
“We have seen the heartbreak and suffering crime causes. We have seen it impede the implementation of government policies and our objectives are driven by such impacts to make you safe, to make you secure in your committees and to protect the future that you work so hard to build,” she added.