PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad and Tobago government has announced a new board of directors for the state-owned oil company, PETROTRIN, saying that the cash-strapped company would also be restructured.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, speaking to reporters before his departure for the United States, said that the company is saddled with a debt estimated at US$850 million that’s due in 2019 and which at present it cannot pay.

Rowley said Cabinet took a decision on Wednesday to install a new board with a mandate to make the company sustainable, work towards profitability and restructure it in the best interest of the national community, taking into account all the competing interests and challenges.

It will be chaired by businessman Wilfred Espinet and Rowley said the nine-member board had been“carefully selected”, including a mix of private and public sectors officials who are very

experienced in their various endeavours of business including working within PETROTRIN.

“We are hoping that within a period of two to three years we can turn around the arrangements at PETROTRIN so that company can get out of, or at least be on a path towards making a contribution of its promise,” Rowley said.

He said that a committee had been established to look into the company’s affairs and a report has since been submitted to Cabinet.

“On Wednesday a decision was taken to begin the process of restructuring PETROTRIN by converting PETROTRIN in the shortest possible time from being a ward of the State to a company that not only conducts a stable business but conducts business as profitable and will continue to contribute profits to other benefits of national improvement,” said Rowley.