Ambassador Peter King (centre), representative of the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology, signs an agreement for 'Energy Conservation Activities in Hospitals', between Jamaica and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) at the ministry on Trafalgar Road in Kingston yesterday. At left is UNDP representative Juan Carlos Espinola and Raymond Right (right), group managing director of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica. -
Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
GOVERNMENT YESTERDAY signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for US$300,000 to boost public sector energy efficiency. Hospitals and the Hospitals Energy Efficiency Programme are the chief beneficiaries.
Some US$200,000 will be allocated to the Petroleum Corpora-tion of Jamaica (PCJ) for energy efficiency and water conservation projects at Cornwall Regional, Bustamante Hospital for Children, Princess Margaret and St. Ann's Bay hospitals; energy audits for Savanna-la-Mar, Kingston Public, Mandeville, Andrews Memorial and Annotto Bay hospitals; and financing a sustainability programme. The remaining $100,000 will be spent on energy efficiency equipment and research work, leading to a government green paper on the subject.
Bustamante Hospital is expected to save over 20 per cent of its energy bill; Cornwall Regional Hospital, 31 per cent of its electricity bill and 45 per cent of its fuel oil bill; Princess Margaret, 26 per cent of its electricity bill and 18 per cent of its fuel oil bill; and St. Ann's Bay, 22 per cent of its fuel oil bill.
ENERGY COST INCREASE
Speaking at the signing at the ministry's office, Ambassador Peter King, adviser to the Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell said: "Over the last few years in particular, we have seen unprecedented increases in the cost of energy, and like other sectors, the energy bill for the public sector has grown significantly."
The programme is part of the government's overall public sector Energy Efficiency Programme, motivated by Jamaica's spiralling fuel bill which topped US$1 billion (J$60 billion) last year. Public sector electricity consumption cost $4 billion in 2003 with nine per cent accounted for by hospitals.
