Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar delivered on a key campaign promise on Tuesday, resolving the decades-long wait for former Caroni (1975) Limited workers to receive the land promised to them following the company’s closure in 2003.
The Prime Minister recalled that when she took office in 2010, she made the Caroni land settlement a priority, issuing more than 3,000 agricultural leases, over 3,000 residential deeds, and nearly 2,000 residential lots, along with other initiatives benefitting more than 8,000 former employees.
She said while the process stalled after she left office in 2015, she continued to advocate on behalf of the workers.
“I fought back as Opposition Leader then, pressing them to finish every case, maintain roads and watercourses and from 2017, I led the legal efforts together with Gerald Ramdeen to secure full value. In April 2025, I reaffirmed my pledge to settle the TT$110 million still owed to private cane farmers because a promise made must be a promise that is kept.”
The Prime Minister reflected on the hardship faced by Caroni’s former workers and their families after the company’s closure, and the delay in delivering on the promise of land.
She said the leases distributed on Tuesday will provide security, open access to financing, create opportunities for jobs, and offer a pathway to generational wealth.
She also gave this message to the offspring of Caroni workers: “This land is your inheritance. This land is your launchpad. Never be ashamed of your roots. Modern agriculture is as much a science and software as soil is. It includes protective cropping, drip irrigation, cold chain logistics, electronic commerce, and rigorous export standards. So your parents tilled the land, you can now scale their work by building applications for packing houses, mastering the greenhouse, turning pepper into premium sauces.”
Among the recipients was Seecharan Mongroo, who was employed at Caroni (1975) Limited for twenty-eight years. He expressed joy and gratitude after receiving his residential lot on Tuesday.
“I didn’t give up hope. I know we would have received it some day to come. Well, next to this is to develop it and hand it over to my children.”
Mr. Mongroo’s daughter, Crystal, echoed her father’s gratitude and expressed appreciation for the long-awaited recognition and support.
“I am extremely elated that he, together with all the ex-Caroni workers, has finally received what was promised to them. I would like to acknowledge all those stakeholders who honoured this process for successfully executing the delivery of these leases.”
One hundred and ninety-three former Caroni employees received leases to lands at Picton 1 Road, Penal. Most are two-acre agricultural plots, while some include residential lots under the Voluntary Separation of Employment Programme (VSEP).