C.S.I.: Petrotrin (Part 1)
Submitted by Christian Khabay on Sat, 06/05/2010 - 12:55
In my previous blog I quoted Adlai Stevenson, an American politician of the JFK era as saying “Corruption in public office is treason”. With all that is in the public domain and after due process of law UDECOTT could be known as the Treason headquarters of Trinidad and Tobago. And if UDECOTT is the headquarters then Petrotrin might very well be running a close second.
With an expanding debt of over $18 billion, a $12 billion lawsuit against it and project overruns in the hundreds of millions of dollars a forensic audit at Petrotrin is not only laudable but absolutely essential. Coming out of any audit, once justified a commission of enquiry into its operations and administration should duly follow. Whilst it must be noted that project overruns don’t necessarily translate into corruption; global trends, unforeseen challenges as well as incompetence are the main culprits. Whichever it is it must be ascertained so as to sustain the viability of the entity.
In welcoming the appointment of Mrs. Carolyn Seepersad Bachan as Energy Minister one of the major challenges she faces is state behemoth Petrotrin. As a major contributor to the state’s coffers Petrotrin has recently come under an ever-increasing scrutiny that has brought it to this point.
As with any change of government philosophical and ideological changes of leadership are bound to take place at Petrotrin. What makes this time unique is the addition of the labour component of the government. With Errol Mcleod’s presence the OWTU’s influence at the state enterprise is set to break new ground. Having recently retired as President General his newly installed protégé Comrade Ancel Roget having now the ear of the Minister of Labour can now cement himself as the Republic’s premiere Trade Unionist. It is now left to be seen how his new found influence will be utilised. With a strong membership base straddling many sectors of industry the partnering of the OWTU and the management of Petrotrin is exactly what is now needed. Influential advocacy will undoubtedly see a new brand of oversight that can not only benefit the stakeholders, but employees, partners and by extension the Republic. The systems of procurement, contract disbursements and industrial realtions whilst apposite in theory are practiced contentiously.
Allegations of corruption, cronyism and nepotism taint its already sullied reputation. In declaring billions in profit, distraction from these ills are easy to accomplish. But with a sudden reversal of fortune (predicated partly by global forces) coupled with the mind numbing $2 Billion USD lawsuit by World GTL focus began to shift. Questions were being asked, and with answers not forth coming the culture of excess was beginning to unravel.
When the decision was made to embark on these upgrade projects the need to focus on producing higher quality products was critical in order to maintain the company’s viability and relevance in a most unforgiving international market. What prompted the ambitiousness was a steadily increasing global demand for petroleum products. With China embracing capitalism a one billion plus population devoured oil. India now beginning to exert its also billion plus population on the world was the other. The price of oil was out of control. The combination of the ever increasing demand and lack of global refining capacity meant that Petrotrin stood to cash in on this second coming of the petroleum bonanza. But it had to act quickly.
The best fit would have been to look at upgrading the high end products; gasoline, aviation fuel, gas oil. The companny’s web site outlines the strategies designed to keep it viable and profitable:
Whilst laudable in intent the subsequent execution of these well laid plans lacked the corporate will needed for them to succeed.
In the next installment we’ll analyze the largest lawsuit ever filed against a private or Government-owned company in Trinidad the World GTL problem.
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Comments
unfair law system
I have been accused and currently incarcerated for the past nine(9) months on a charge of murder. I have been spending my days and nights in a cell, being treated like a criminal while the law takes matters into their own hands. Who is the law to judge a man, when they call upon a man to testify at my hearing as a witness, who has been proven to be mentally unstable. In fact the law has been so unfair, to call upon a witness who has also served a sentence at the state penetentary.
It's trying to make sense out of the fact that the law would actually entertain the thought of introducing the testimony of a man, who has been the main suspect in the murder of his own mother. It makes you question the creditability of the law.
can you imagine how absurd it is to sit in a courtroom and listen to a man, who claims to be re-creating the murder scene in his mind, reciting each detail, but each time the storyline remains the same, but the details and the characters seem to change.
Apparently the way I see things, is that my future lays in the hands of a man who can't seem to tell a solid story, or provide incriminating evidence to solidly convict me, or place me at the scene of the crime. For the period of my incarceration the validity of my aliby was never examined. In fact, I was charged along with seven(7) other suspects of who two(2) were released for the same incident, after their aliby was validated.
When approached by the court as to the date and time of the actual murder, the witness could not even verify that information. For a person giving a testimony in court, you would at least expect them to remember the date and time, as the most vital piece of information in a case of that nature.
For the inception of the case, I have maintained my innocence. I have even presented a documented proof of my whereabouts on the date of the alleged murder. I had been hospitalized on the said night at the Eric Williams Medical Hospital, and I have presented a signed testimony from my doctor, to the court as admissible evidence. During cross examination of the witness by the lawyer this evidence was presented at my hearing, the witness however, refused to accept the document as proof of my whereabouts. The evidence of my aliby dismissed, and the witness was prevented from answering any further questions pertaining to the validation of my aliby.
Should we let this person just stay and suffer:
trinistar24
Whilst not knowing the details involved here, and not being a lawyer myself I can only offer an opinion on what is before me. In accepting testimony from convicted felons it is incumbent on any decent defense attorney to challenge the credibility of such a witness to the jury. In so doing he establishes reasonable doubt.
As to the dismisal of alibi evidence, again maybe the Dr. in question should have been a witness for the accused to verify his whereabouts. I would think that establishing whereabouts at the time of a crime is critical to any reasonable defense and as such documentary evidence might not be as compelling as testimonial evidence and or admission records.
If a witness's testimoy is filled with inconsistencies then two factors are relevant. A jury is bound to spot them and duly rejct it in consideration and in summing up the sitting judge will highlight it to the jury and may or may not instruct them to disregard that testimony.
All things considered several grounds for appeal are possible here. My sympathies go out to this person if he is in fact innocent of the crime. In any system of law prosecution of the innocent must at all turns be avoided.