Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (second right) is guided on a tour of an energy exhibition at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica head office yesterday by Ruth Potopsingh (left), the corporation's deputy managing director, and Jerico Hanson, chief director of energy economics in the Energy Division of the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson is urging Jamaicans to follow his example by cutting personal energy consumption.
He says this would form part of a national response to the energy crisis in tandem with the national energy policy now being developed.
Mr. Patterson said yesterday that, despite buying more electrical appliances at home, he had kept his domestic light bill stable by installing a solar water heater and replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs.
He was speaking at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica's energy conservation exhibition held at the corporation's Trafalgar Road headquarters in recognition of National Energy Conservation Month.
The Prime Minister hailed the success of the Rural Electrification Programme (REP) in contributing to 90 per cent of Jamaican households now having access to electricity. He added, however, that this had also caused an increase in consumption which is unsustainable given the high costs of imported oil used for electricity generation.
Turning to the PetroCaribe Agreement, Mr. Patterson said it did not violate the Treaty of Chaguaramas since that agreement was for the importation of crude, not refined, oil. He said the energy ministers of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago would soon be meeting to attempt to resolve differences on the issue.
