Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
Although they have been on furlough since September and were aware of the company’s legal troubles, several NiQuan workers were still surprised by their terminations.
The workers said they got the impression that the company would have weathered the storm.
Some 75 workers are now unemployed. They received emails on Tuesday from NiQuan’s founder and director Ainsley Gill indicating that they had no choice but to mothball the operations of the Pointe-a-Pierre gas-to-liquid plant.
The workers spoke with Guardian Media on condition of anonymity.
One worker who had been employed at the company for five years said it was like deja vu as he faced a similar situation following the closure of Petrotrin.
“We were going with the understanding that they were going to get through with the gas deal and they were going to start back up and everything was going to be okay so this is a slap in the face again. Is just like Petrotrin. We were working good and all of a sudden the whole thing collapsed and we out of a job again,” he said.
The father of ten said five of his children are still in school and his mortgage is six months in arrears. He is also concerned that he might not receive severance benefits.
“Based on our contract we were supposed to get a severance but I talking to the higher heads and they saying NiQuan have nothing in place. They have no money. They flat-out broke. I want to say it is a sad situation for everybody, all the suppliers. It is emotional for me. I just hope we get some justice somehow. It seems like it have no justice in this country again,” he said,
Another worker who is also a former Petrotrin employee said this was the third time he has been retrenched from a company. He said after he was terminated he started a business, but many of his colleagues were depending solely on a salary from NiQuan.
“This is sad and I empathise with them but for me, I have been putting things in place since I was terminated the first time,” he said.
Another worker admitted that over the last few months, he had been praying that the company would resume operations. With two children and a wife to support he has been doing part-time jobs but nothing stable.
“I’m not sure what to do right now. I’m just hoping something works out for me,” he said.
A worker complained the company deducted payments for National Insurance, PAYE, annuity and pension plan, but their contributions were not paid to the respective institutions.
He said: “If they terminate me but everything up to scratch, all my NIS, my BIR, all my salaries, well I could understand that the company could no longer afford to retain me. That is part of the business cycle. But to do what they did, somebody should make a jail for that.”
He said when workers raised this issue with the company, they were told the company had an agreement with the insurance company and NIB to pay the outstanding contributions in bulk.
“We want them to update our NIS and give us back the money they deducted from our salaries. What did they do with the money they deducted? he asked.
NiQuan was shut down following the death of Massy Energy employee Allanlane Ramkissoon on June 15, 2023, and the termination of the gas supply contract by the T&T Upstream Downstream Company (TTUDEOCL) over a US$21 million debt.
Five months ago, the company’s vice president David Small was awarded a $20,647,017 million judgment by the courts for breach of contract by NiQuan. Last month he initiated a wind-up petition due to non-payment by the company. As a result of this, according to the email sent to the workers, the company is unable to extend the current furlough past April 30.