Trinidad has its own Alcoa Powered 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)
Iceland, you are not alone in this madness. See the eerie similarites with Iceland’s Industrial Vision 2020 at www.nosmeltertnt.com
i am sad that threat to my own island home (trinidad) has brought me to this site. i should have been here before, fighting the cause with all the others. no one, anywhere should have to deal with this horror. we must all join together, stand up and fight. we must take into consideration what others have to deal with..we must stop turning a blind eye to the destruction of our planet. this is our home. we must not look away. those making the decisions are but a few…we are many…we must lift our voices and stand strong together. they must hear us..we must make everyone understand…we must spread the word and wake up the world…we must stop looking away silently…the longer we wait, the less we say… makes us more responsible for the wrong being done. ALCOA and all the other destroyers of our planet…our wildlife…our people…our souls..THEY ARE BUT A FEW…WE ARE MANY…we empower them with our silence. we must wake up or sleep forever!!!
Shazz
The ABCs of the Trinidad Master Plan (Alcoa, Bechtel, big Corporations)
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)
Iceland, you are not alone in this madness! See the eerie similarites with Iceland’s Industrial Vision 2020 at http://www.nosmeltertnt.com
I’m Trinidadian and I completely understand what Icelanders are going through right now. This company needs to stop their destruction.
I have never felt so helpless about a situation as I do about Alcoa in Trinidad right now. Seeing Iceland go through the same situation only makes it worse. We need to combine efforts somehow and bring this company down…they’ve done enough damage.
sammy
I also feel for the Iceland citizens, I think this is unfair not only to you guys but people out there are concerned too, everyone should stand and fight for what is rightfully theirs.
Mlambo
Clearing an “Industrial Estate” Trinidad Style
Excerpt from the Trinidad Express April 3rd 2006
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=147902050
Elijah Gour, Chair of the Union Village Council, spoke about his community’s concerns over the proposed aluminum smelters and their effects on the southwestern peninsula so far.
Comment: (The industrial site was cleared for an Alcoa Aluminum Smelter and Alcoa then decided the site was too small for them and the Trinidad government is currently planning to clear another, even bigger site a few miles from this one in Chatham, with the same or even worse devastating consequences for its inhabitants.)
What did the proposed site land look like before it was cleared?
It was secondary forest, greenery with dams, a lot of wild animals, pastures where people had cattle, gardens. People used to go for evening strolls, it was very quiet and calm. All the things one would think of that you would be living to enjoy. The forest was part of the community. We had hunters, gardeners there. People used to use the dam to water their plants, to go swimming. In the dry season, it would be used to have a bath, wash clothes. Now it’s like a desert.
With the high winds these days, imagine almost a thousand hectares of bare land, heavy with dust. You could imagine the problems residents are having.
How big was this dam?
It was three dams they covered, eh, not one. They were drained at night and we believe that they were done in that way because they were not keeping up with environmental standards. They were quite big, stretching for a few hectares-well. If you understand the contour of the land, they were catchment areas used by the predecessor, Texaco, to facilitate water to their industrial sites.
We did a lot of fishing there. There were a lot of caimans. It also watered the animals that lived in the area. Those dams were back- filled in the process of levelling to get the contour they probably were looking for to suit the industries. They were all drained into the Vessigny sea illegally and not coherent with environmental standards, in that they were drained at night and there were no proper silt traps [for] the debris that would be coming down with the slush and mud. We asked the reason for draining the dam and they told us the water was contaminated. Give them the benefit of the doubt and say, okay, it was contaminated.
We thought it was interesting that they drained a contaminated dam into the Vessigny River, contaminated the river, and then the river flowed to the Vessigny sea, a tourist resort, to contaminate that. We find that somewhat conflicting.
As the project continues, we’ve been seeing constant breaches within the areas laid out by the EMA: they brought in truckloads of tyres and put them alight in bamboo patches. They grade down all the buffer zone that was supposed to be between the clearing and the villagers so the effects we’re having now would have been somewhat shaded. Things like that, they keep doing.
Were you made aware beforehand?
No one informed us. Villagers were at a disadvantage. People had to get their cattles out in a haste, call in the butchers, who saw it as an opportunity to exploit people, so villagers had to sell out their animals at very low cost. Some had vegetables in their gardens and were not able to go and reap them.
Was there damage to wildlife?
It was beyond damage! Imagine you have tractors, excavators at various points all working into the centre and you have sensitive animals like porcupines and anteaters. You also have the monkeys that were slaughtered. Tractors keep pushing the trees-the hunting season was closed, to facilitate the animals to breed-and monkeys, heavy with young, were falling out of trees. You had workmen clobbering them to death.
It was devastating to them. Animals running all on the road and in people’ backyards. You could say they massacred these animals. All who had young, who were about to make young. What were not killed by the falling trees were utilised by the workers. What thought they might escape were chased and killed. Clobbered with wood, cutlasses, pieces of iron, whatever the workmen could put their hands on.
“…..our smelter in the park will give the villagers opportunities for agriculture, fishing and entertainment.” Alcoa EMA Application
For More information:
http://www.nosmeltertntn.com
Hi Jenny and All:
I am a Trinidadian also and I feel for the people of Iceland because we also feel helpless in hte face of a government led by Patrick Manning which has plainly stated that we could protest all we want, the smelter will be built.
It seems that we have moved from one form of colonialism to another (American Imperialism).
Maybe we can somehow get togehter (concerned citizens of Iceland and Trinidad and Tobago) and lobby the international community for assistance.
Residents of Chatham, Cap de Ville and the surrounding communities on
the South Western peninsula of Trinidad kept up their fight against
the proposed Alcoa aluminum smelter plant in the face of armed
security forces that descended on the community in the early hours of
Tuesday morning.
Reports out of Chatham are that two residents have been arrested and
women are being pushed out of the way to allow workers from Alcoa and
Bechtel to enter Foodcrop Road.
The residents gathered at the camp where they’ve been keeping a 24
hour vigil since early August, having received word on the weekend
that the Trintoplan, Alcoa and Bechtel workers would be returning to
the community to begin a soil survey in the area.
The residents, formed a human blockade across Foodcrop Road, stopping
police and the workers from accessing the land.
Two weeks ago during protests, a police officer threatened to shoot
the unarmed villagers.
Despite claims from Alcoa that they received permission from
landowners to enter and conduct the tests, the community remains
adamant that no tests will be carried out. They are fearful that any
disturbance of the land will be an open gateway for Alcoa to press
ahead with building the smelter plant.
The villagers are also concerned that a situation similar to what took
place with the Union Industrial Estate where 1000 acres of land were
cleared with clearance from the EMA, exposing villagers respiratory
diseases.
Two weeks ago, Alcoa hosted a consultation to discuss the Draft Terms
of Reference for their Environmental Impact Assessment at the Chatham
Youth Camp where they were told in no uncertain terms that they were
not wanted in the south-western peninsula.
Fitzroy Beache, President of the Chatham/Cap de Ville Environment
Protection Group has promised that the community will maintain it’s
non-violent direct action protest against Alcoa, until they abandon
all plans to build a smelter in Trinidad and Tobago.
Alcoa’s Destruction of the Cedros Peninsula has started.
It’s Deja Vu all over. Just as they did in Iceland, Alcoa’s Smelter Terrorists did not feel they need to wait for official permission and public consultations before starting their reign of terror rampaging the agricultural lands of Chatham in Trinidad. (Wade Hughes only promised us ‘no construction’ will start until official clearances have been given, so destruction will be OK?). Alcoa found it necessary to bring almost two dozen police officers to take care of the insurgents. The police trucks proudly display ‘ to protect and serve’ on their doors but it instead of ‘protecting and serving’ the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago who are there to protect their constitutional rights, they have decided to protect the trespassers, Alcoa.
Two days ago, Alcoa came in under heavy police guard to establish a foothold in the formerly peaceful and quiet peninsula. Today, they brought in more heavy equipment including a mobile office trailer into the Chatham lands under the guise of ‘soil testing’ which is supposed to last for almost two months. The message to the villagers is clear, “Alcoa is here and we are here to stay and there’s nothing you can do about it! If you try to stop us, one call from Alcoa to the Police Comissioner will take care of those protesters”
On the Dow Jones Newswire and in several international newspapers, Alcoa’s enforcer, Wade Hughes tried to justify their trespassing by claiming it was ‘part of the required Environmental Impact Assessment’ This is simply not true, just another lie by Alcoa to justify their violent and unjustified incursion into our lands.
The Enviornmental Impact Assesment process has not even started yet as the final Terms of Reference have not yet been issued which would outline exactly what type of testing would be required.
Here is the truth: Soil testing on the property was already done and a full geological survey was already submitted by Alcoa with their Environmental Clearance Application.
Alcoa’s incursion into the Cedros Peninsula quickly turned dramatic with several arrests and an incident where a tractor bringing equipment for Alcoa’s soil testing almost crushed a one year old child.
The Trinidad Guardian reported the following story today:
Screams echoed in Chatham yesterday when a tractor transporting soil-testing equipment almost crushed a one-year-old child as he lay on the road, huddled in his father’s arms.
Baby Omar Mohammed burst into tears when his father Abdullah Mohammed fell in front of a tractor during a mad rush to stop Trintoplan officials from entering the proposed site of Alcoa’s aluminium smelter plant.
Four protesters, among then UWI lecturer Prof Peter Vine were arrested by police.
The Trintoplan workers had gone to Chatham with a heavy police presence to begin soil testing but were met with a human barricade.
More than 80 residents, mainly women and children, stood on the road………
Source: RADHICA SOOKRAJ – http://www.guardian.co.tt
You can find pictures of the Alcoa/Police action at
http://www.nosmeltertnt.com/newsletter.html
I am Trinidadian, and a friend of mine sent me a link to your site, and I, in turn have sent this onto my friends. It is horrific to see that no matter what the majority of people want for themselves and their country and this world is largely ignored and in some cases silenced, all in the name of profits. Governments and multinational corporations are in bed together, only to fatten their own wallet, but when all is destroyed, there’ll be nowhere for any of us to run.
May God help your beautiful country Iceland, the pictures I saw are truly breathtaking, and may God help Trinidad too.
Thank you for running this article about our plight in Trinidad. Our ‘Honorable’ Prime Minister Patrick Manning is dishonoring his nation and his people who trusted his foolishly.
Patrick Manning would sell his mother for a dime. How can you say 2020 when, if we go through with this Smelter idea it will be the begining of the end of Trinidad & Tobago Island Paradise, and instead it will be Tobago Island paradise. we have to stop them. Money and income you cannot eat and polloution never goes away.
And do something about the amount of cars on this nations roads. I am still shocked to find out that Trinidad ranks #5 in the world for carbon monoxide poisioning. Hit me up fellow HUMANS @ t_beckles@yahoo.com.
Patrick seems to think that heavy industrialization will make TnT become developed like the US and others. What he fails to realize is that these same developed countries are now trying to reverse the effects of their Industrialization periods, hence the Kyoto Protocol and stricter regulations and environmental standards. No policy has been developed to deal with this event, so of course Alcoa sees this country as another dumping yard, no policy means no regulation, means do whatever the hell you want! I hope he realizes once he signs this pact with the ‘devil’ there is no turning back!. NO more can there be pristine areas, biodiversity and all those things tourists look for, he will pay the price!!!
Any fool can see that an alumina smelter does not help the environment, no way, no how!!! So why are they trying to convince people that it is!!! But in this world, money talks so bullshit walks!!! Iceland I feel for you, and just like you, we are in for an uphill battle!!
As a Trinidadian, I am horrified that we have a Prime Minister who would call the scientific evidence about the negative effects of Aluminium smelters rubbish! How could a leader make it clear that he DOES NOT care about what happens to the people of the country and their lives? Suddenly its clear to Trinidadians that we are perhaps living in a country run by a dictator … what Manning says, is what Manning wants and what Manning gets!
Who voted for this guy into power?? Now, the entire country will be made to suffer for generations to come …
I am asking all Trinidadians, please, please do not keep silent about this issue, fight all that you can against the proposed smelters. These plants will not only affect the people in south Trinidad, but will affect us ALL.
No to Alcoa and Alutrint!
Just for the record NO FORMAL AGREEMENT has been signed with the two smelter companies. Only the proposals have been signed.