Business
Jamaica: New administration to continue with LNG project
The Portia Simpson-Miller administration says it will continue with the Liquefied National Gas (LNG) project started under the previous administration.
Under the project, LNG will be supplied to the government with plans for the construction of an LNG Floating Storage and Re-gasification terminal.
Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell, said the work of a Steering Committee appointed to oversee the process would continue and that talks were being held with potential bidders so that the project could be completed by 2014.
“Except that we’ve only changed two members and will continue to do the work it started. I’ve been advised that they approved a request from two of the infrastructure providers for a two-month extension of the bid deadline, in order to allow them to complete commercial arrangements,” he added.
Paulwell said that the Simpson-Miller administration is committed to reducing the country’s energy cost and to pursue more renewable sources of energy.
“We know that LNG is a relatively clean, environmentally friendly option that provides tremendous opportunity for efficiency improvement and cost reduction. In this regard, the government is committed to implementing the LNG project, and we are doing everything to ensure that the project is properly structured commercially, and that the appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks are in place,” he said.
“We are making every effort to ensure that the timeline for completion of the new plants and the infrastructure are synchronized with the timeline for completion of the delivery of LNG,” he added.
Paulwell said that no fuel source would dominate, and “as we search there’s only one thing that’s off the table – we do not want to get into a situation where we swap one single dominant fuel source for another”.
He said dependence on a single dominant fuel source would make Jamaica “extremely vulnerable to external shocks, and if we are serious about improving business competitiveness and improved productivity, we cannot afford to leave our fate so exposed”.