Protesting Petrotrin workers were yesterday removed by armed police officers to allow fuel tankers access to the filling bond at Pointe-a-Pierre.Workers have been manning all entrances to the company's facilities at Pointe-a-Pierre, Penal/Barrackpore, Forest Reserve, Point Fortin and Santa Flora since they downed tools on Wednesday, bringing operations to a halt.
However, around 2.30 pm several policemen armed with guns and batons, led by Supt Cecil Santana, converged at the filling bond entrance where workers were protesting.OWTU's branch president Roger Steward claimed they were carrying out a peaceful protest when the police came and used excessive force to remove them. He said the police did not ask them to move.
However, Stewart said workers will not be intimidated and protest action will continue until the union and company reach an amicable resolution.Supt Santana denied that the police used excessive force. He said the police presence there was to ensure that the tankers' access to the bond was not hindered."We will be here as long as necessary. No excessive force was used. We ask them to move, they did not want to move, so we got them out of the way very peacefully," he said.
T&T Guardian was also informed that boats were able to leave on Friday night to collect offshore workers who had been stranded at platforms and jack-up barges since the marine section was also shut down.