Caption: Stuart Young. Photo: T&T Parliament
By Alicia Chamely
FORMER energy minister Stuart Young is lashing out Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs Roodal Moonilal’s accusations that Young and former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley removed documents pertaining to their administrations work on the Dragon Gas project.
On Friday, while making his way into the Red House, Port of Spain, Moonilal stated, “On entering the Ministry, I asked for a brief on the dragon gas project, I asked for all documents pertaining to that. To this day I can confirm, because I confirmed only a few minutes ago with the permanent secretary, that we have absolutely no document in English dealing with the conditions of the previous dragon gas licence.”
“I want to ask squarely to Mr Young, whether or not he took away documents from the Ministry of Energy pertaining to Dragon Gas,” he added.
Responding to Moonilal via a press statement, Young said, “Minister Moonilal has stated that documentation related to the Dragon gas project at the Ministry of Energy are in Spanish and not English and asks about the previous two-year OFAC licence for Dragon suggesting that an OFAC licence is in Spanish. This confirms to me, and the population, that Moonilal has not even seen the current six-month provisional licence as an OFAC licence is a document issued by the US Treasury Department in English.”
@azpnews.com Former Energy Minister Stuart Young renews his call for the government to provide more information on the terms and conditions of the OFAC license. Video: Alicia Chamely @stuartyoung001 @officialpnm.tt #stuartyoung #ofac #license #dragongasdeal #termsandconditions
He added, “Furthermore, the OFAC licence was provided by OFAC to NGC’s lawyers who in turn provided it to NGC so perhaps that would be the place to look for a copy.”
Young continued, “With respect to the E&P Licence issued by the Government of Venezuela it was issued in Spanish as it has to be, in accordance with Venezuelan law, but both NGC and Shell had external lawyers advising and translating the documents, along with an official translator, into English.”
He further criticised Moonilal’s accusation that Rowley was in the possession of notes from the Ministry of Energy during a press conference Rowley held on Friday morning.
Describing Moonilal’s questioning as to whether Rowley had Ministry notes as a “desperate grasp at straws,” Young pointed out that, “Dr Rowley stated very clearly at the outset of his press conference that he had made notes to refer to.”
@azpnews.com Former Energy Minister Stuart Young says the government has shown a complete lack of transparency in their dealings relating to the energy sector. Video: Alicia Chamely @stuartyoungtt @officialpnm.tt #stuartyoung #energysector #lackoftransparency#dragongasdeal
Young said Moonilal’s statement, “confirmed that the government is incompetent and has no clue how to conduct the task in front of it.”
He concluded, “It is now crystal clear to the population why Minister Moonilal is being left out of complex energy negotiations.”
