JAMAICA'S OIL bill may exceed US$700 million for the fiscal year 2003-2004 if practical steps are not taken to reduce consumption and eliminate waste, says Dr. Jean Dixon, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology.
Speaking at the Jamaica Gasolene Retailers' Association's annual general meeting in Kingston yesterday, she said that as oil prices continued to increase on the world market, the total cost of Jamaica's imported oil and related products had hovered between US$300 million and US$450 million per year - close to US$1 million per day. "This is bad news for Jamaica," she said.
"Over 90 per cent of the energy that the country uses is from imported fuel and our industries are inescapably oil- dependent," she said. Dr. Dixon added that Jamaica was already strait-jacketed with interest payments on long-term loans that exceed 60 per cent of national revenue collections, a situation that demanded saving.
BILL OF $2.4B
"The Government's electricity bill is now about $2.4 billion per year," Dr. Dixon said. "If through conservation we can reduce this by say 10 per cent, the result would be $240 million per year (in savings). I believe this target is highly achievable."
She said that Government had demonstrated a strong commitment to energy conservation, especially in the transport sector, which alone consumed 25 per cent of total domestic petrol consumption per year.
The initiatives include the phasing out of leaded gasolene; the phased replacement of minibuses with long- chassis buses which have a higher passenger capacity; the establishment of bus lanes to increase bus mobility and the designation of roads as one-way, to ease traffic congestion.
She added that the concept of energy conservation had become more important in recent times, as universally-known sources of petroleum were unevenly distributed and in terms of available technology, were largely finite.
Petroleum is used in transportation and electricity which provides air-conditioning and is used to operate various equipment.
"We often tend to overlook the extent to which our behaviours can result in significant changes for ourselves and the economy," Dr. Dixon said. "Any saving that we make can have a positive ripple effect throughout the economy."
