By Chantalé Fletcher
PRIME Minister Dr Keith Rowley has pledged to make the Lake Asphalt Company of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) more sustainable.
It has been placed under the Ministry of Works and Transport from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries.
Dr Rowley was speaking at a People’s National Movement (PNM) public meeting in Diego Martin on Tuesday night.
The political leader of the PNM said, “The Cabinet has placed a committee in place with National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO) acting as the operating agency to create a new business model for Lake Asphalt, to make it sustainable, profitable, and a contributor from the Lake and otherwise.”
He stated that LATT was a state company with workers funded by the Ministry of Finance.
Dr Rowley said, “They have $200 million in the bank, but if you spending, everything going out but nothing coming in, what happens?”
Back in 2021, workers of LATT staged a demonstration led by the Contractors and General Workers Trade Union for the salaries of workers who were not paid for up to two months in some cases.
Dr Rowely said potholes were one of the problems faced in the country.
He said, “There was a period of time from Tobago to wherever, because you can’t get bitumen to buy, to pave the roads. You can’t get it, not being produced here and can’t be imported because of the business model.”
Dr Rowley stated that Lake Asphalt was being supported by selling bitumen from Petrotrin.
He said, “So once the refinery was closed down, the Lake Asphalt Company had no revenue stream and of course to pay the workers.
“The Ministry of Finance has to provide every three months or so, a certain amount of millions of dollars. How long can that go on for?”
Dr Rowley gave his commitment, saying, “We are going to fix that and create something sustainable in the La Brea area for the La Brea people, for the country of T&T.”
