Chairman of the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, Gerald Ramdeen, has accused the former government of deliberately debilitating the local downstream energy sector.

He said this situation forced the Board of NGC to take steps to correct the situation.

“They crippled our downstream by the policies that were put in place by the former administration. We have had to go and undo transactions that were done before to bring gas into this downstream. When they talk about plants closing, they are responsible for that because they never made any provision for gas to go into the downstream. And we have had to compete, the last time I spoke, I told you all the NGC now doesn’t hold any monopoly on gas, you know. The NGC has to compete with upstreamers to buy gas at LNG prices to be able to supply our downstream.”