 We received this map of the Energy Master Plan and we were probably as shocked as you are if you see this for the first time. No, it's not just Chatham and Union Village anymore. Ecoengineering Consultants, the company that is commissioned to do the study on this sent us this map without too much explanation of what the National Energy Corporation is planning to do in this huge area but we assume that the NEC is not planning to bake cookies. This is what we DO know about the Energy Master Plan: The area around the town of Vessigny, also known as Union Village will get a Aluminum Smelter plus a handful of other gas based industries. The mega acre site is currently totally cleared of all vegetation, people in the surrounding area are asked to move and the contract for delivery of one cash and carry Chinese smelter plant has been signed. An "agreement in principle" has also been signed with Aloca for the Chatham smelter. The area between (and including) the village of Chatham and Cap de Ville is earmarked for an Alcoa Aluminum Smelter producing 340,000 tons of Aluminum per year. By the way, that is US$10 billion dollars worth of Aluminum which exceeds the entire annual budget of the country by 4 billion. Also part of this package will be power plants for these aluminum smelters, power plants that are large enough to provide the entire island with electricity, doubling the country's electricity consumption. It is probably a mere coincidence that just at the same time these projects have been announced, Trinidadian's electricity rates are to be increased between by 7 and 35 % per year annually. There is no infastructure in place anywhere in this area. Roads are extremely small and in bad condition. One large size truck can back up traffic for miles and residents have been protesting for better roads while being teargased by the local authorities. A highway has been promised for many years but right now, there is none. Already heavy traffic due to industrial activities in the Pt. fortin area makes traveling the area a nightmare. People are being forcefully moved from their homes in the areas earmarked and surrounding the mega industrial sites. Some of them were promised as much as $15,000 US to compensate for the loss of their homes, just enough to maybe buy a car. Except for San Fernando, which is just outside of the Master Plan area, there are no proper hospitals in the entire Master Plan area. Except for one hospital promised many years ago and still not even started in Pt. Fortin The majority, if not all of the planned mega industries are based on Natural Gas. The problem is that there are only 17 years of proven and probable gas reserves remaining. In 1999, there were 40 years of Gas reserves left. Obviously, somebody can't count. Or more than likely, the gas is depleting faster than we thought. These mega gas guzzzling projects can seriously impact the nation's economoy and ability to survive. Where will our electricity come from a few years down the road? Will we have to import gas and oil in 2020? Both mega industrial sites in Chatham and Union Village are built in seismically unstable areas. The Union Village site is a stone's throw from the pitch lake and partially on top of a fault line. The Chatham site is just a few miles from a major fault line, actually the LNG Gas tanks are right on top of that fault line. Natural gas breaking through the earth's crust occassionally creates mystery islands just off the coast of Chatham. One of them exploded before sinking back into the sea. The mega projects are done under the guise of providing jobs for South Trinidad residents. As much as 2,000 construction jobs have been promised, yet there is a shortage of construction workers in the country. Over 80% of workers that are now building Alcoa's Iceland facilities are foreign workers. The same is already been predicted in Trinidad. Where will these workers be housed? How much of Alcoa's 10 billion US dollars annual Aluminum production will the average Trinidadian see in his pocket book? What about the environment? The 340,000 ton Alcoa facility alone will produced the equivalent CO2 of 240,000 cars. Alcoa has not told anybody what they plan to do with the extremely toxic waste their smelter will produce. There's a lot of secrecy and misdirection and our call for a national debate has been ignored by Alcoa and all other parties involved. The Master Plan in a Nutshell: Two Aluminum Smelters within 10 miles each other, one within 3 miles of a major town (Pt. Fortin) the other within 6 miles of that same town. About 25,000 people live within a ten mile radius of these smelters. All this on a 1864 sq. mile Caribbean Island with one of the highest population densities on the planet of 550 people per square mile. (lush with rainforests and spectacular bird watching according to Trinidad's tourist brochures) Are we alone in this madness? See the eerie similarites with Iceland's Industrial Vision 2020 at www.savingiceland.org |
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