La Brea smelter protest spreads

Camille Bethel cbethel@trinidadexpress.com
Thursday, June 4th 2009
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161486306

cleaning up: A workman removes pieces of debris which formed part of the blockade put up by La Brea villagers yesterday, as part of their continuing protest action over the Alutrint aluminium smelter plant. -Photo: DAVE PERSAD

Residents of La Brea played a game of cat and mouse with police yesterday, as their protest action spread to several more communities.

From as early as 3 a.m., villagers from communities surrounding the Alutrint smelter site blocked the roads at various points with old barrels, discarded water tanks and other debris.

It was the third day of protest action linked to the Alutrint aluminium smelter plant to be constructed on the Union Industrial Estate.

The protest, which began last week with a demand for jobs, has grown to include residents raging against housing and health issues.

Police arrested four men yesterday. Two had been charged the previous day.

Residents met last night to plot their next move.

Yesterday, they moved from blocking the entrance to the smelter construction site, to blocking the main road linking Point Fortin to the rest of the country. The blockades caused traffic chaos for several hours. Each time the police cleared the burning blockades and left, villagers swarmed in behind and rebuilt the barriers.

Three men from Vance River were arrested. A fourth villager, who went to Alutrint's site office at Vessigny Village, was also arrested after a confrontation.

Two of the detainees are said to be relatives of a politician from La Brea.

They were released without charge. The other two were expected to appear in court yesterday.

Square Deal Corner residents also continued their vigil at a camp set at the entrance to the Union Industrial Estate.

Spokesperson Anslym Carter said villagers would not be backing down despite the arrests.

"We still hold our position at our camp. This is not no jokey thing. If it takes months, years, however long it takes, we are staying right here," Carter said.

He said residents wanted a meeting with the heads of Alutrint so that the issues can be solved.

Member of Parliament for La Brea, Fitzgerald Jeffrey, did not answer calls to his cellphone yesterday.