By
Stephanie Coleman, Gleaner Writer
The
Jamaica Gleanner
Kingston
Petroleumworld.com
03 19 06
THE
FOCUS of the National Energy Policy 2006-2020 will be to wean
the country off its oil dependency by the diversification of
energy sources and conserva-tion, said Ruth Potopsingh, group
managing director of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ).
Speaking
yesterday at the Energy Conservation and Efficiency Poster Competition
Awards ceremony at the PCJ auditorium, Mrs. Potopsing warned
that dependence on oil to meet 90 per cent of the country's
energy needs was draining the public purse.
Mrs. Potopsingh
stressed that energy diversification was critical to the country's
development. She called for an increase in the development and
investments in renewable energy resources such as hydropower,
biomass, wind energy and solar energy.
The PCJ
managing director noted that Government spent over US$1 billion
(J$65 billion) on its energy bill in 2005. The cost will rise
as the world demand for the commodity will grow by 18 per cent
in five years. Jamaica's own energy appetite grows by three
to four per cent annually. Mrs. Potopsingh said the dependence
on imported petroleum hikes up production costs and makes Jamaican
businesses less competitive with other oil producing countries.
"For
every dollar of export merchandise produced in Jamaica, the
country pays 66 cents for imported petroleum. The demand for
foreign exchange to purchase petroleum helps to trigger inflation,"
she said.
"It
is critical to find new energy sources which are less expensive
and indigenous and do not require significant foreign exchange
expenditure," she added.
