Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told Chinese investors at a business forum in Beijing on Monday her government can free up billions of dollars for national development if it can cut the $4 billion subsidy on gasoline and diesel by providing compressed natural gas (CNG) on a wider scale. She said the money saved could be invested in hospitals, schools and roads.
“Listen, our cars, we cannot import them fast enough, they just sell. We go through them by the month. So many new vehicles come into the country so the fuel is well used and over used,” Persad-Bissessar said.
On Sunday T&T's National Gas Company (NGC) and China’s ENN Group signed a memorandum of agreement to help accelerate Trinidad & Tobago’s CNG programme.
The Prime Minister said the agreement will have "a major positive impact on my country’s energy and transport industries by making CNG a more viable fuel option choice for the motoring public, now this is very important to us.”
This project, she said, can help Trinidad and Tobago and China can partner in two ways.
“One, of course, will be the stations to be built but we can look for partners with respect to the supply of conversion kits into CNG for the vehicles,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She also spoke about the annual fuel subsidy of $4 billion.
“If we can take that subsidy out not, by giving people the petrol at a higher price, but by instead using CNG which is cheaper for us to produce, then I can save $4 billion which I can then put into hospitals, into schools, into roads, whilst at the same time offering fuel, the CNG at a reduced cost to our public,” Persad-Bissessar said.
NCG chairman Roopchan Chadeesingh said on Sunday that NGC is “going to concentrate in the first two years” targeting fleet owners, some Government vehicles such as those belonging to the police and the regiment.
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| A T&T taxi filling up with CNG |
On Sunday T&T's National Gas Company (NGC) and China’s ENN Group signed a memorandum of agreement to help accelerate Trinidad & Tobago’s CNG programme.
The Prime Minister said the agreement will have "a major positive impact on my country’s energy and transport industries by making CNG a more viable fuel option choice for the motoring public, now this is very important to us.”
This project, she said, can help Trinidad and Tobago and China can partner in two ways.
“One, of course, will be the stations to be built but we can look for partners with respect to the supply of conversion kits into CNG for the vehicles,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She also spoke about the annual fuel subsidy of $4 billion.
“If we can take that subsidy out not, by giving people the petrol at a higher price, but by instead using CNG which is cheaper for us to produce, then I can save $4 billion which I can then put into hospitals, into schools, into roads, whilst at the same time offering fuel, the CNG at a reduced cost to our public,” Persad-Bissessar said.
NCG chairman Roopchan Chadeesingh said on Sunday that NGC is “going to concentrate in the first two years” targeting fleet owners, some Government vehicles such as those belonging to the police and the regiment.
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