THE Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs will be continuing with the evaluating of Request for Proposals (RFP) for the use of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.
In a press release on Monday, the ministry stated that the instructions were given by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
The ministry stated, “On the instruction of the Prime Minister, the Evaluation Committee appointed by Cabinet to evaluate the Request For Proposals (RFP) for the use of the Guaracara (Point-a-Pierre) refinery is required to examine the latest position of the negotiating parties as they stood at the established deadline of October 31, 2020.”
“This examination and any subsequent recommendations deriving therefrom will be separate and apart from the work and determination of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, which has also received the submissions. The comments and recommendations of the reconstituted Evaluation Committee will be submitted directly to the Cabinet.
“This exercise of review and clarification is to be completed and submitted to Cabinet by November 30, 2020,” the ministry stated.
Patriotic Energies, the company owned by the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), had been at the forefront of the negotiations but their offer was rejected by government with Energy Minister Franklin Khan stating that the final proposal did not address outstanding issues on Saturday.
Since then, there have been several calls to have the government reconsider negotiations on the table.
During a press conference on Sunday, president general of the OWTU Ancel Roget said the acquiring of the assets by Patriotic Energies would be for citizens’ benefit adding that Patriotic Energies remained committed in its bid to purchase the refinery.
He said, “We are humbly requesting that the next way forward is for this issue, our latest proposal to go before this independent Cabinet appointed committee so they can scrutinise thoroughly all of the areas that determine if we had come up short or if indeed we had met all the requirements which this morning we are saying with confidence that we would have met all the requirements.”
