by MACDONALD STAINSBY
‘Mining tar sand will destroy Govt’ read the headline in April of 2012. The statement was made to Trinidad and Tobago’s Express newspaper by well-known environmental campaigner Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh to the news that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had made statements about working with Canada’s Harper Government to start development of tar sands for oil in Trinidad’s southwest peninsula. If anyone could make such a bold statement stick in Trinidad and Tobago, it would be Kublalsingh, a veteran of multiple struggles against what he and community members believe to be ill-advised industrial projects.
Oil is hardly new to the twin island nation. Trinidad was among the very first oil producing countries in history. Industrial developments have been the driving force of Trinidad and Tobago being the richest country (per capita) in the Caribbean. However, concerns over environmental and social impacts have led mobilizations that involved Kublalsingh to ultimately prevent the construction of two aluminum smelters, a steel mill, and proposed industrial ports. Over the last couple of years, perhaps the greatest test for the current coalition government has been the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM). HRM is a group made almost entirely of families fighting eviction, as well as wetland disruption, for a segment of an industrial highway into the oil-rich region.
Officially independent in 1962, Trinidad and Tobago was still dominated by Canadian banks by the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s. Today, Canadian banks Scotiabank, CIBC, and TD all have returned to large-scale involvement in the country, while Canadian banks in general have historically been regarded as colonial and often racist. Events in Montréal involving Trinidadian students at Sir George Williams University highlighted the Canadian connection for many involved in the Black Power Revolution of Trinidad and Tobago from 1970.
Upside Down World for more