70 Former PETROTRIN Employees to Receive Residential Lots

On Tuesday 07 September, 2021 the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries hosted a Live Public Draw for prospective recipients of the PETROTRIN Residential Lots Programme. The event was broadcast live on TTT at 10:00am from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Main Conference Room, South Quay, Port of Spain as well as live streamed on TTT Live Online, the Ministry and LSA’s social media platforms.

The Petrotrin Residential Lots Programme was launched in 2020 for former employees of PETROTRIN who were terminated in November 2018, as a result of the closure of the refinery, and the restructuring of the exploration and production activities. The Ministry has received a total of three thousand (3,000) applications, of that number, title searches have been conducted on fourteen hundred (1,400) applications to ensure applicants do not own or part own lands. This exercise is being carried out by the Land Settlement Agency, in keeping with the eligibility criteria of the Programme.

At this morning’s Live Draw, seventy (70) potential first-time home-owners were selected for residential lots at La Savanne and Nurse Trace in Guayaguayare. The Draw was supervised by independent external auditors to ensure transparency and accountability of the Random Draw process.

Nine (9) sites have been earmarked for the Programme, with each providing serviceable lots of approximately 5,000 square feet for a lease period of 199 years. The lots on these sites will be distributed once all the required infrastructure, lotification and statutory approvals have been received, with no additional charges to the former employees of Petrotrin.

The Programme will be utlising the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Aided Self-Help Housing approach. As such, the Land Settlement Agency will provide pre-approved house plans, technical assistance and oversight for the construction of the houses, while the Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Finance Company (TTMF) will provide subsidized loans for eligible applicants requiring mortgage facilities for home construction.

At the event, the Honourable Stuart Young brought Remarks and the Honourable Pennelope Beckles delivered the Feature Address. Others in attendance to witness the Live Draw were Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Honourable Adrian Leonce, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Ms. Sandra Fraser as well as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Claire Davidson-Williams, and Deputy Permanent Secretary Ms. Nirmala Ramlogan, Chairman of the Land Settlement Agency (LSA), Mr. Wayne Inniss, and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Hazar Hosein, also of the LSA.