kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) is calling on Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young to let the country know what caused the April 2021 explosion at NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd.During a media conference yesterday, MSJ leader David Abdulah responded to a newspaper report highlighting that the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries had approved the restart of NiQuan’s gas-to-liquids plant in Point-a-Pierre.
Abdulah said following the explosion, former Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs Franklin Khan promised to make the findings of the investigation into the explosion public.
“Minister Khan made a clear, explicit statement. It was a definitive statement that the investigating committee that he set up as minister to look into the explosion and to make recommendations and, of course, arrive at findings as to the cause of the explosion, that that report would be made public,” Abdulah said.
A year and a half later, Abdulah said the plant is restarting without any discussion with the Marabella community bordering the Guaracara Refining Company, which houses NiQuan.
It was the community who woke up to their homes shaking on April 7, 2021, after its hydrocracker failed, resulting in a blowout. Residents reported shattered glasses and cracks in their homes from the impact felt miles away.
Abdulah visited the community in Marabella to highlight that NiQuan never met with the residents. He said NiQuan community relations were poor.
The ministry assigned a technical team to establish the facts of the incident by investigating the factors contributing to the explosion. The technical team had to review the adequacy of existing controls and procedures and recommend protocols to reduce risks and prevent recurrences.
It included acting head of the Petroleum Operations Management Division Craig Boodoo, acting Senior Chemical Engineer Yashi Carrington, Mechanical Engineer II Sean Mahabir, Petroleum Inspector III Omattee Mathura, Mechanical Engineer Neisha Dipnarine and Chemical Engineer Shazil Yarsien.
The team had to prepare a report and submit it to Khan and other key stakeholders.
Although Khan died 10 days later, Abdulah said he made the statement to publicise the technical team’s report as a government representative. Therefore, he said Young cannot claim that he did not make that promise to the people.
Abdulah said it was another lack of transparency and accountability by the Dr Keith Rowley-led PNM.
“Lay in the public’s sphere the report of that investigating committee. We must know what caused the accident, what things went wrong, what NiQuan did wrong that caused the accident and what steps, therefore, it had to take to ensure that a similar instance does not happen again.”
With the presentation of the 2022/23 National Budget on September 26, the MSJ also wants the Government to state specific timelines for deliverables.
Abdulah said the scanners at the ports are not working. With reports that illegal weapons and drugs come through legal ports, he said the Government must spend money to ensure those scanners are working again in the next few months to reduce the supply of firearms and ammunition reaching the hands of criminals.