Caption: Minister of Energy Dr Roodal Moonilal. AZP News/Prior Beharry

By Prior Beharry

CONTRACTORS who paid for their Safe to Work (STOW) audit with the Energy Chamber, and it has not yet started will get a full refund.

Others will get a partial refund or none according to which part of the STOW process has been reached.

This was stated in a memo to members of the Energy Chamber on Friday, a day after the government announced that all State enterprises within the energy sector will no longer participate in the STOW programme.

Speaking during the Cabinet press conference on Thursday, Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said, “I can also indicate that all State enterprises involved in the energy sector have taken decisions respectively to do away with, terminate, and/or discontinue the STOW process for entry into the sector, which we believe to have been unfair and to have enriched individuals and entities at the expense of keeping out small and medium-sized enterprises and new businesses from the sector.”

He stressed that STOW “forms no part of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Moonilal said, “Indeed, it came into being by some type of agreement charter between the Energy Chamber and several of the multinational energy companies and involving State enterprises.”

He said after consultations with energy companies, it was agreed to terminate the STOW requirement “and revert to the ISO codes and other relevant codes that obtained before as per the entity in the energy sector.”

On Friday, the Energy Chamber stated gave three options:

• For Audits Not Yet Commenced:
  Contractors who have paid for a STOW audit that has not yet started may choose to cancel. If you wish to do so, you will receive a full reimbursement.
• For Audits Currently in Progress:
  Contractors with an audit underway may choose whether to complete the process. If you decide not to proceed, fees will be settled with the Assessor for work completed to date, and you will be reimbursed for the remaining balance.
• For Completed Audits:
  Contractors who have successfully completed the STOW audit will not be eligible for a refund, as the service has been fully rendered. For those approved for certification, arrangements can be made to collect your STOW certificate from the Energy Chamber’s office.