Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
From left: Charles Matthews, President and CEO of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS); Cuban Ambassador Gisela Garcia Rivera and Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, take part in a press conference at the Technology Ministry's New Kingston headquarters Tuesday to announce Cuba's donation of 30,000 energy-saving light bulbs to the island. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
CUBA IS to supply 30,000 energy-saving lightbulbs free to residents of east Kingston.
Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology and member of parliament for the constituency, says he hopes the scheme will become a model for Jamaica as a whole.
Speaking during a press briefing at his ministry's New Kingston headquarters on Tuesday, Mr. Paulwell said Jamaicans should be persuaded by savings under the scheme to use the special lightbulbs. He said fluorescent lightbulbs, although more expensive, are six times more efficient than a traditional incandescent 60 watt bulb.
REDUCE LIGHT BILLS
"These bulbs will add to the lives of Jamaicans in a positive way," Mr. Paulwell said. "It will improve their standard of living by reducing the energy they consume, thereby reducing their light bill.".
He said he was confident the scheme would stimulate an increase in demand for energy-saving bulbs and added that, if private suppliers are unable to meet the demand, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) would fill any gap in supply.
Thirty workers from Cuba, together with the light bulbs valued at US$2 million, were due to have arrived by plane midday Tuesday. They, together with 30 employees from the Technology Ministry, will go door-to-door throughout the constituency beginning Friday exchanging the energy-saving fluorescent bulbs for traditional incandescent ones.
The old bulbs will then be symbolically destroyed to further encourage adopting the new technology. All 60 workers, in conjunction with the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), will in March and April, return to the homes to assess how much they have saved on their electricity bills.
Mr. Paulwell said the scheme would also assist in regularising electricity use in the constituency, including removing illegal connections.
FREE LIGHTBULBS
The scheme stems from a meeting between Mr. Paulwell and Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana last December to discuss energy policy. Seven million energy-saving lightbulbs have been distributed to Cuban households as part of a national energy-saving policy which saves that country over US$1 billion per year, said Cuban Ambassador Gisela Garcia Rivera.
JPSCO ENDORSED
Charles Matthews, JPSCo President and Chief Executive Officer, said he endorsed the scheme despite the obvious conflict of his company's business being to sell electricity.
Mr. Matthews noted that greater efficiency was required since, "there is no way around it, the cost of energy will not go down in the future."
The Government will next Tuesday unveil its National Energy Policy green paper in Parliament.
