Trinidad and Tobago Faces Protests Over AI Data Centres

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced plans to develop a 300-megawatt data centre and a 150-megawatt AI infrastructure facility in Trinidad and Tobago, with potential expansion to 500 megawatts. The projects, established through memoranda of understanding with U.S.-based companies, are intended to generate foreign exchange and employment.

The announcement sparked a national debate and a change.org petition that gathered over 19,000 signatures calling for the suspension of the projects. Opponents argue that the facilities could exploit national electricity and water resources during a persistent water crisis and demand the public release of environmental impact assessments and drought resilience plans.

Former energy minister Stuart Young and business leaders, including Gregory Aboud, joined the call for caution. Young warned that the national grid and water production cannot support hyperscale facilities, citing a recent moratorium on data centres in New York as a cautionary example. Aboud called for greater transparency and a consultative approach to reach a consensus on the projects' future interest for the country.

In a separate development, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized New York Governor Kathy Hochul after New York became the first U.S. state to freeze new data centres for environmental and health research. Trump described the moratorium as a terrible decision, asserting that the jobs and tax revenue would now shift to other states.