Locals assured of jobs in building Alutrint smelter

Verne Burnett | 7:18 pm
Published: May 6, 2009
http://guardian.co.tt/business/business/2009/05/05/locals-assured-jobs-building-alutrint-smelter

The Chinese ambassador to T&T, Huang Xing, said yesterday that the China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC), which is building the Alutrint Aluminium Smelter Complex in La Brea, will try to hire as many T&T citizens as it can in the construction of the plant.

But more importantly, he said the company will try to hand over to locals the operation, maintenance and management of the complex as early as possible, a move which he said will bring much benefit not just for the workers, but for the whole community of La Brea and T&T as a whole. The Alutrint Smelter plant is to be built on the Union Estate in La Brea.

Construction of the first phase of the project is expected to start in June and be completed in 2011. Phase One will be a smelter with a capacity to produce 250 tonnes of aluminium a year. Phase two—an expansion of the plant by another 250,000 tones a year—will begin in June 2011 and be finished in September 2013. Acting chief executive officer of Alutrint Limited, Phillip Julien, said that China had the expertise in the construction of aluminium smelters. However, he said CMEC is amenable to employing local contractors and this is where the local employment will be provided.

The disclosures were made at the end of a function held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, 1 Dock Road, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, for the signing of a framework agreement between T&T and China for the provision of US$112 million, representing the balance of a concessional loan from China to T&T for the construction of the smelter. The agreement represented the final part of the financing for the project. Some US$300 million has already been provided under a buyer’s credit memorandum which was signed some time ago.