Protesters
taking smelter fight to court on March 14
By Carolyn Kissoon
South Bureau
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
02 25 07
The next time anti-smelter protesters and members
of the government meet would be before a judge,
president of the Chatham/Cap-de-Ville Environmental
Group, Fitzroy Beache said yesterday.
Beache
said he could not understand why Prime Minister
Patrick Manning refused to meet his group to discuss
their concerns over the construction of any aluminium
smelters in Trinidad and Tobago.
"He
agreed to meet four people from Chatham who wanted
the smelter plant, but could not meet us to discuss
our feelings. Well I want the Prime Minister to
know that we no longer want to meet him. The next
time we would meet is in court on March 14 where
we would once again attempt to stop the construction
of a smelter plant here," he said.
Beache
was speaking at a press conference organised by
residents of Otaheite, South Oropouche, near the
proposed site for the construction of a smelter
plant.
Suresh
Seepersad, an Otaheite resident, said they were
not going to give up without a fight. "We are
very concerned about the Prime Minister's plan to
construct an industrial island off Otaheite and
we are telling him that it would destroy us and
our environment. This will in no way help us,"
he said.
Seepersad
said residents of Otaheite were not against industrialisation
in Trinidad and Tobago, but believed that the government
should try developing the country in other areas.
"We need a fishing port here at Otaheite, we
need a jetty for free access to our boats, a gas
pump and proper drainage and stalls," he said.
United
National Congress senator, Jennifer Jones-Kernahan,
said Trinidad and Tobago did not need an aluminium
smelter plant, but needed greater investment in
agriculture.
Environmentalist,
Dr Peter Vine, called on the government to announce
the price of natural gas to Alutrint and ALCOA,
the companies which have been granted permission
to construct smelter plants in Trinidad.
Trinidad
Express
Sunday, February 25th 2007
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