Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Dr. Roodal Moonilal, has accused the former PNM administration of undermining Trinidad and Tobago’s energy sector, citing the restructuring of Petrotrin as a prime example of mismanagement and poor oversight.
Responding to Opposition criticism of Government appointments to state boards and enterprises, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Dr. Roodal Moonilal turned the spotlight on the previous administration’s management of Petrotrin, questioning the oversight surrounding major decisions at the state-owned energy company.
“They entered a 26 billion dollar loan arrangement without Cabinet approval. Allow the board and selected Ministers and a PNM administration to destroy the energy sector, the bedrock of the economic sector. They took loans without any approval, due diligence for the GTL project, the gas optimization plant. They had absolutely no transparency, no good Government principles.”
He maintained that the handling of Petrotrin reflected broader failures in the previous administration’s management of state enterprises, challenging the Opposition’s credibility in raising questions about accountability.
“This entire arrangement had absolutely no transparency, no project management principles were applied. They promised, they went on a limb and promised the board of directors of Petrotrin to do due diligence on an international financial entity, and they were conned. Under their former administrations, they were conned. That is what their governance is.”
The Minister was speaking in the Lower House on Friday evening.