00:00Workers at the Port of Port of Spain have once again returned to work, enabling operations to resume.
00:06President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association, Gregory Abboud,
00:11notes the concerns, including that of health and safety, raised by the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union.
00:18And while he says there is no reason to discount those concerns, he does not believe that they are insurmountable.
00:24Let us work towards resolving what exists without hurting the country so badly.
00:31The state of affairs of our national economy are not what it should be for us to be taking chances
00:37with shutting our port down or creating any difficulty or hardship for the country.
00:41This is a very serious time and we have to be concerned about all aspects of the operation of this society's economy.
00:49Abboud points to the country's high level of expenditure when compared to other Caribbean islands
00:55and lower energy prices, leading to deficits that run into billions of dollars.
01:00He also highlights the words of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, who has in essence told the nation
01:06to brace for about two years of hard times ahead.
01:09Domus says preventing the operational issues from reoccurring is crucial.
01:14This is not a time for flippancy and it's certainly not a time for us to be grandstanding with such a critical operation.
01:23This is serious business. The economy of Trinidad and Tobago cannot afford to be hammered in this way.
01:31On the question of whether the port of Point Lisa can be used in such scenarios, Abboud says no.
01:37Some of the lines are not calling at Point Lisa, so it isn't to say that if they bypass Port of Spain, they would go to Point Lisa.
01:46What we mean to say is that the shipping agencies have indicated that if they bypass Port of Spain,
01:52they will go down to Suriname or they will go down to Santos in Brazil.
01:56This is a comment that has come back to us and actually, I can tell you from discussions which we had two days ago,
02:04that decision was less than 48 hours away when the conversation took place, so it's a very serious situation.
02:11He also weighs in on the defense force having to intervene to offload the Rolon Roloff Vessel, Asian Trust.
02:17Bringing the defense force in is a very serious remedy for what took place,
02:24and a necessary remedy, if I might add, to serious situations. It has to be done.
02:30With operations surrounding imports to the country and exports, including to the region, hanging in the balance,
02:36Doma says port workers and their representing trade union have a serious responsibility to help the country sustain itself economically.
02:46I would like to thank them for recognizing that and for giving us their best effort,
02:51and to say that I am sure the Port Authority will address their concerns
02:56and that we will not have to meet again to have this discussion,
03:00and that we are on our way to trying to each of us do the best that we can for our economy and for our country.
03:07Doma says it is willing to meet with the SWWTU once it would aid in a resolution.
03:13Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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