OWTU president general Ancel Roget has taken issue with comments Energy Minister and soon-to-be Prime Minister Stuart Young made at the launch of a National Energy Skills Centre Technical Institute (NESC-TI) programme in renewable energy on February 3.
During a visit to the Well Services Ltd's Otaheite offices on Tuesday, accompanied by the relatives of missing rig worker Pete Phillip, Roget condemned Young's statements on the partial collapse of a rig 44 days ago, which led to the disappearance of Phillip and the presumption that he is dead at sea.
At the NESC-TI function on Monday, Young gave an update on his ministry's investigation into the incident and a reporter asked if the Well Services Ltd incident and the 2022 Paria diving tragedy highlighted an inadequacy in the industry.
To this, according to a Newsday story published on Tuesday, Young said: "You see this, unfortunately, taking place in hydrocarbon economies and sectors across the world, and that is why you have these international operators who you then retain to come in.
"It is always unfortunate. Every loss of life is unfortunate and something that we don't want, but sometimes, unfortunately, we have to deal with."
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Latching on to the minister's first sentence while reading from the report in Newsday's February 4 paper, Roget said the comments signalled a level of comfort with the situation.
"He is comfortable to say that this is taking place across the world and would have the Trinidad and Tobago public believe that that's the norm.
"Tell that to the dependants of this worker whose only intention was to go to work, to earn a dollar so as to mind his family – and whose body has not yet been recovered."
Phillip's brother Elvis also spoke on Young's comments.
"Having a leader where something happens to a person and he (the leader) is okay with it, it is very alarming, because one (death) is too much.
"The goal should always be zero. Safety is always geared to zero incidents. Things will keep happening if no one is held accountable and responsible for actions," Elvis said.
He called for government to get more involved and force companies to comply with safety regulations, especially in the energy sector.
