WAS PATRIOTIC ENERGIES EVALUATED OR NOT?

CCNTV6

David Lee is questioning whether or not Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company Limited was ever evaluated in its bid to acquire the Guaracara refinery. He says it was revealed by the Ministry of Finance that it was not in possession of a report reflecting the evaluation.

Transcript

00:00 Opposition MP David Lee says the discovery was made after a request was

00:05 submitted under the Freedom of Information Act to acquire the

00:09 evaluation report. In September 2019, Patriotic Energy's Company Limited, owned

00:16 by the oil field workers trade union, tendered to purchase the Guaracara

00:20 refinery but its proposal was rejected in 2020. As a result, the refinery was put

00:26 back on the market for sale. The request for the report was made to ascertain why

00:31 the company was unable to get the refinery. The first request for the

00:36 report under the FOIA was made to the Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited in

00:41 August 2022. "And the response is, any report produced in respect of the

00:47 evaluation of the preferred bidder would have been prepared by the government

00:53 appointed evaluation committee, which I mentioned in names, and would be

00:58 in the possession of the Ministry of Finance." Following the response from

01:02 Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited, Lee said that another FOIA letter was sent

01:08 to the Ministry of Finance. "When we asked the Ministry of Finance, let us get a

01:15 copy of what happened, that report. They are saying the Ministry of Finance

01:21 is not in possession of the requested document. Further, this is critical, no

01:28 such document exists. So am I to ask that the evaluation committee headed by

01:37 Vishnu Dhanpal did not evaluate the preferred bidder patriotic energies?

01:44 Because in their letter they said they did and they sent that final report to

01:49 the Ministry of Finance. When we file a Freedom of Information to the Ministry of

01:54 Finance, the Ministry of Finance is saying that no such report exists." Lee

02:00 says the absence of a report from the Finance Ministry raises the question of

02:05 why exactly was Patriotic Energies Company Limited denied purchase of a

02:10 refinery and was a report on their proposal actually done?

02:15 Shirlan Ramsubag, TV6 News.

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