Energy Minister, Stuart Young, said the Opposition Leader’s budget contribution on Friday demonstrated that the UNC, in and out of government, has no understanding about the energy sector or its importance to TT.
During his contribution to the budget debate in the House of Representatives on Saturday, Young said that the PNM government has settled US$1.2 billion in debts in the energy sector which was left by the former UNC-led People’s Partnership (PP) coalition administration as “a gift” for the people of TT.
Young said that the “irrefutable facts” are that the PP negotiated no new gas supply contracts and racked up US$1.3 billion in claims from energy companies because of its failure to negotiate those contracts.
He added that to date, Government has settled US$1.2 billion of those US$1.3 billion in claims.
Young continued by stating TT gained approximately $11 billion in revenues between 2016 and 2021, because of measures taken by the PNM, as opposed to the period 2010 to 2015, when TT gained no energy revenue from any fiscal measures by the UNC government.
He said the UNC does not see the bigger picture, adding that Persad-Bissessar’s budget contribution on Friday demonstrated that the UNC, in and out of government, has no understanding about the energy sector or its importance to TT.
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