Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Oct 31 2006 (IPS) – The latest sign that the Patrick Manning administration is not about to back down on its plans to permit the construction of smelter plants in Trinidad and Tobago came during the government s presentation of its 2006-7 national budget to the parliament earlier this month.
Prime Minister Manning told legislators that two aluminium smelter plants, including one by the U.S. firm Alcoa, would be built here even though the government understands the concerns raised by citizens regarding the construction of these smelters .
The other plant, Alutrint, is a partnership between the locally-based National Energy Corporation (NEC) and the Sural Group of Venezuela. It is 60 percent owned by the government with the Venezuelan group controlling the remaining 40 percent. It will produce 125,000 metric tonnes of aluminium annually.
For nearly two years now, residents of the southwest peninsula villages of Cedros and Chatham have staged roadblocks and rallies to protest the construction of these plants because of environmental and health concerns.
According to the Chatham/Cap-de-Ville Environmental Protection Group, Chatham is just a few miles from a major fault line and residents believe that the area where the smelter plants would be located is seismically unstable .
They say the 340,000-tonne Alcoa facility in Cap-de-Ville would emit carbon monoxide (C02) equivalent to 240,000 vehicles. And they are worried about how the waste produced by the plants will be disposed of.
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Residents have been joined by opposition politicians, university students and lecturers, and popular entertainers, as well as various non-governmental organisations.
An anti-smelter camp was erected just outside the gates of the University of the West Indies (UWI) here. Wayne Kublalsingh, a lecturer and activist, said that while the institution has not given its official backing to the camp, I think it has given support to the idea that lecturers, students and the community have a right to take a position on issues that affect the national interest.
The group UWI Students Against Smelters has launched a website urging citizens to post their views on the issue, while the Cancer Society of Trinidad and Tobago has called for a national referendum, saying it was also gathering data to assess the health implications of the projects.
The protests have intensified in recent days even as Alcoa launched a media offensive, taking a group of journalists to one of its plants in Brazil and running television advertisements showing plants in Australia and Brazil functioning in harmony with wildlife and lush vegetation.
Ramdie Overbie, president of primary metals development at Alcoa, told IPS that the company is building a state of the art plant using the best available technology .
Regarding the concerns of local residents, he said the company is very much aware of the situation. Every one has a viewpoint about a project like this. We have full confidence that the plant will not be a detriment to the environment and public health, Overbie said.
He added that the company was still prepared to meet with individuals and small groups to discuss the project, and had already organised several community and town hall meetings.
Manning has also insisted that both plants will meet the most stringent environmental standards consistent with international practice as determined by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA).
The prime minister says the two smelter plants would create up to 5,000 jobs during construction and approximately 1,500 permanent jobs on completion. In addition, it is anticipated that over 850 people would be employed in the downstream industries.
I wish to point out that aluminium smelters are already established in both developing and developed countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico, he said.
In February 2006, Alcoa signed an agreement in principle with the government to build a 341,000 metric-tonnes-per-year (mtpy) aluminum smelter and related facilities. The entire project is estimated at 1.5 billion dollars.
Alcoa holds 100 percent interest in the smelter with the government a partner in providing necessary infrastructure.
Budget documents submitted to parliament showed that nearly 24 million dollars was spent last year towards a 60-million-dollar project to develop the site and a pier to serve an aluminium smelter and petrochemical plant.
In addition, a review of the 2006 Public Sector Investment Programme showed that work had already started on a six-million-dollar Alutrint complex for downstream aluminium products even before the Alutrint smelter had been given the green light.
As if to drive home the point that his government would not back down despite the daily protests, Manning last weekend announced the existence of proposals to build a third plant.
We have proposals for a third aluminium smelter plant to be constructed in Trinidad. We would examine these proposals and if they are accepted by government and meet the EMA requirements, it will be smelter number three, he said.
The statement brought immediate condemnation.
Radio and television talk shows were inundated with calls by listeners opposing the move, while some newspapers called on the government to rethink its plans.
What is really annoying is the casualness with which Manning has approached the whole exercise, said an editorial in the Newsday newspaper Tuesday.
President of the Chatham/Cap-de-Ville Environmental Protection Group, Fitzroy Beache, said that even though residents in the area were upset by Manning s statement, they were not intimidated.
We are not going to give up the fight. The residents have become immune to Manning s tactics, but we would not be sidetracked. Our concern is about educating the nation, he said.
On numerous occasions we have extended invitations to the prime minister for him to dialogue with us on the smelter plant and he has not accepted, he added.
The non-governmental organisation YESTT-Getting it Right for the People First said the pronouncement by the prime minister was nothing short of arrogance , while former attorney-general and president of the Civil Rights Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, said he was amazed by the announcement of a possible third smelter plant.
The prime minister is behaving recklessly and defying the population. Although Manning has evidence that the construction of the smelter plant is going to kill persons and cause serious injury, he is insisting he is going to build the smelter plants, Maharaj said.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar also said she found the statement to be most astonishing .
This country is so small it cannot even take one smelter plant you are now talking about three smelter plants, she said.
But those opposed to the smelter projects may have their work cut out for them, particularly after the prime minister said over the weekend that his government is not prepared to be influenced by foolishness as it relates to the establishment of the plants in Trinidad and Tobago.
