No
gas contract yet with Alcoa—Saith
By Curtis Williams
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
10 01 06
Energy Minister Dr Lenny Saith says
he has “no intention of taking on” UNC
activist Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj’s demand
for the Government to say what price it expects
to sell natural gas to Alcoa and Alutrint.
Speaking with the Guardian on Saturday,
Saith said: “Mr Maharaj can write all he can...I
will not be taking him on because I have said time
and again that no gas contract has been negotiated
with Alcoa and that there is a clear process which
has to be followed before any decisions are made.”
Maharaj announced on Friday that
he was demanding the Government say the price it
expected to charge Alcoa and Alutrint for natural
gas, electricity, water and the thousands of acres
of land on which the two smelters would be built.
In a pre-action protocol letter
sent to Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the Attorney
General, the Government was given 14 days to reply
before legal action is taken.
Alcoa plans to build its plant at
Chatham. Alutrint plans to build in La Brea.
Maharaj told a press conference
at his Irving Street, San Fernando, office: “We
would like to know the amount of money the Government
expects to collect from Alcoa.”
Maharaj has challenged the Government’s
decision to redesignate forest and agricultural
lands for the purpose of industrial estates.
The
Trinidad Guardian
Monday 25th September, 2006
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