Senator
wants aluminium downstream
By Curtis Williams
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
10 22 06
An
Independent Senator has called on Government to
tell Aluminium giant Alcoa that they are not welcomed
in T&T without a commitment to build downstream
plants.
Senator
Bashrat Ali on Monday, told the Parliament that
he was in support of the Alutrint aluminium smelter
but he could not be in favour of Alcoa’s plant.
He said:
“The
time has come for the Government to tell Alcoa ‘without
any downstream plants, then forget it.’”
Energy
Minister Dr Lenny Saith then shouted:
“We
have already told them that!”
Saith
then added: “Providing they do not bring any
downstream plants.”
Senator
Ali said from Alcoa’s application for a certificate
of environmental clearance there was no indication
that its 345,000 tonnes plant will be making any
products available for downstream purposes.
Ali
noted this was opposite to Alutrint intention which
was to encourage the establishment of a metals manufacturing
sector.
He
said the technology was available for the plant
to operate safely and he knew this from practical
experience.
The
Independent Senator was also critical of the National
Energy Corporation for the slow pace at which it
is seeking to get some of the projects going. Ali
said a case in point was the fact that little of
the administrative work required in getting a port
built to accommodate Alutrint’s plant has
not been done.
Meanwhile
he said the NEC was seeking to establish an estate
at Chatham when no approval has been granted for
an industrial estate to go there. The Independent
Senator commended the Government for many of its
projects in the energy sector including efforts
to build an ethylene complex in T&T.
The
Trinidad Guardian
October 18th 2006
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