Smelter still
on—Saith
ByGail
Alexander
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
12 10 06
Wednesday's aluminium
smelter symposium has yielded avenues to deal with
some of the issues in the plan—and the forum
has not given Government reasons not to build a
smelter, Public Administration Minister Lenny Saith
signals.
Speaking during
the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday,
Saith’s statements—post-symposium—indicated
that the smelter plan was still on track, despite
the various opposing views presented during the
one-day La Romaine event.
Saith said the symposium
was geared for the national community and to air
all views, especially on the health and environmental
aspects.
He said the population
had an opportunity to view proceedings on TV and
listen on radio:
“We’ll
be repeating some of that footage... I think we
succeeded in bringing to the table the varying views
on the health and environmental issues.
“It also provided
an opportunity for people in a structured manner
to present a range of views.
“The dominant
feeling on the health and environmental issues was
that smelters would be bad for their health and
destroy the environment.
“I think,
at the end of the day, what came out was that, yes,
there are problems associated with the smelter industry,
as with most industries.
“But there
are also avenues for risk management and for proper
standards that will deal with those issues. On those
grounds, there’s really no reason not to build
a smelter.”
He said the Environmental
Management Agency would play a very important role
in the valuation of environmental impact assessments
on the issue.
The information
presented during the symposium also confirmed deliberations
the Government had:
“And I always
made it clear that ultimately the decision to build
or not to build will be centred on whether it is
economically-feasible and whether it met environmental
standards.”
He said the symposium
also made that information available.
On the argument
that the symposium was merely a sham by Government,
Saith said Government had only decided to diversify
into aluminium and how that process took place involved
a structured consultation process which the EMA
was handling.
He disagreed with
the argument that a one-day symposium was insufficient
to air all aspects of the matter.
Saith said the EMA’s
process provides for a number of consultations which
had been taking place already.
“I don’t
know how much is enough, but it was just a start,
and if more information is needed we’ll find
a way to provide more information.
“But a day
is a lot to focus on.”
Saith said the gas-pricing
issue was a different matter. He assured that all
those involved in the matter would obtain the necessary
information to arrive at decisions on the issue.
The
Trinidad Guardian
Friday 8th December, 2006
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©2006 TheTrinidad Guardian. All Rights Reserved.
