Nineteen construction companies now operating in Trinidad and Tobago have in the work force people ’that could be considered nationals of the Republic of China,’ says Labour Minister Rennie Dumas.

He further said that Beijing Luijian Construction Company (TT) Ltd is the only one of them that has suffered a major protests by its employees.

’Mr Speaker, I want to point out that we have 19 companies employing workers in the construction industry that could be considered nationals of the Chinese Republic or the Republic of China. In none of these have we had similar protests,’ Dumas said.

He did so as he defended the employment of Chinese workers in the local construction sector. Dumas was responding to a motion of definite urgent public importance on the issue of Chinese labourers in Trinidad and Tobago raised by Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal in the House of Representatives on Monday evening.

He said of the 80 Beijing Luijian workers who have been protesting the some of the conditions of their tenure in this country that they ’rightfully, believing they have an issue, raised those issues and protested to bring public attention to that.’

He said that the conciliation process between the protesting workers under senior Labour Ministry officials and the Beijing Luijian management remains ongoing.

Moonilal said that newspapers in Barbados and Jamaica had front page stories on the issue which headlines which referred to labour camps in this country as he referred to local media reports of that showed the conditions of the site that houses 100 of the Beijing Luijian workers at a Cunupia barracks.

’Nowhere in the discussions that we have had with workers and the company with the assistance of able translators has any issue of the living conditions arose,’ Dumas said.

Nonetheless, Dumas also said, ’That one set of living conditions, that one set, because I am suggesting that was is seen as negative is duplicated in no other situation because it would have been found and exposed.’