Category: OWTU

 

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.