Caption: Neil Gosine as UNC Temporary Opposition Senator. Photo: T&T Parliament
MORE than 12 years after his house was firebombed, former chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago National Petroleum Marketing Company (NP) Neil Gosine says no one has ever been held accountable.
He laments the detection rate of the police and said he and his family still feel traumatised.
“It was a traumatic time,” he told AZP on Thursday as police said the arson attack at his house in Valsayn was done by a gang leader around 2 am on Carnival Monday in February 2013.
Gosine, who is sometimes an Opposition Senator, said, “My family still suffers from the trauma of the firebombing that occurred 12 years ago.
“While time has passed, the impact remains. My wife still experiences panic attacks, and the fear from that night has never fully faded. These events don’t just disappear—they leave lasting scars. We’ve done our best to move forward, but the emotional toll is something we continue to live with every day.”
His Honda Accord was also destroyed in the fire as well as his house causing about $3 million in damages.
Gosine recalled that the incident stemmed from his crackdown of the illegal diesel racket where people were buying subsidized diesel and selling it for up to eight times its value up the islands.
Speaking in Parliament two years before the incident at Gosine’s house, then energy minister Kevin Ramnarine said $1.5 billion was lost in this illegal trade.
He said an investigation had revealed that 40% of total diesel sale was made illegally to vessels that then take it up the islands and resell it at close to international prices.
Government was paying more than $3.5 billion to subsidise fuel to the population in 2011.
AZP News got hold of an internal report on the diesel racket done by the Ministry of Energy and NP in 2013. It stated, “The recent firebombing of NP’s Chairman house at Valsayn raises several critical and important questions as to whether or not the aforesaid firebombing was a direct or indirect consequence of NP’s role in the fight against the illegal diesel trade or was it a separate and distinct act not related to NP at all.”
It stated, “In conclusion the evidence although not conclusive, points to the direction that NP and other State institutions as previously mentioned have being making some impact on the illegal trade of diesel which is quite difficult to quantify.
“However, it would appear to the ordinary citizen that NP in actuality is shutting down service stations and is at the forefront of the fight against the illicit diesel trade and that other State agencies are merely working with the latter to bring justice to all concerned.
“The firebombing of the house of NP’s chairman appears to have been a reaction to the shutting down of … service stations and investigations into the illegal trade of diesel identified below.
“No clear suspect can yet be identified, but the indicators are that NP has found itself in the bowels of criminal activity and they have decided to fight back.”
The report added, “The evidence left at the firebombed house of the chairman is clear that an oil based liquid was utilised to throw on the main exists of the house and then ignited it.
“The question remains in the ordinary man’s mind whether this gruesome act of terrorism was utilised to send a message or was it meant to kill the chairman and his family.
“This we will never know, but all attempts to safeguard and protect the wellbeing of the Board, Management and Employees of NP should be made.”
Gosine said, “The firebombing of my home 12 years ago was a direct attack on my efforts to put an end to the diesel racket in Trinidad and Tobago.
“When someone tries to stop corruption, there is never support from the authorities to protect you or to find the culprits who tried to kill you and your family.
“That’s the harsh reality. Too often, those who stand up against corruption are left to fight alone, while the perpetrators continue their operations without consequence.
“This is why so many people are afraid to do the right thing—because they know there will be no backing from the authorities or anyone else. The lack of accountability and protection only emboldens corruption, making it even harder to bring about real change.”
