Energy Minister Re-establishes Jamaica Energy Council

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, the Hon. Fayval Williams presided over the inaugural meeting of the re-established Jamaica Energy Council (JEC), today (Friday, September 13, 2019) in Kingston, Jamaica. The Minister said that the Council will “contextualize the Energy situation in Jamaica by highlighting the importance of energy to sustain life, and specifically to the achievement of Jamaica’s social and economic goals.” The role of the Council is to “provide overall direction for the implementation of the National Energy Policy and ensuring that the strategies for implementation as well as the several implementing partners are well coordinated.” It will focus on eleven (11) main areas including: · Energy Policies · Energy Conservation and Efficiency and Public Education · Oil and Gas Exploration · Petroleum Refinery Haulage, Storage and Distribution · Governance Framework for the Energy sector including fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to stimulate investments into the sector towards achieving the Energy Policy goals. The Minister told the members of the Council that sub-committees of the Council would be established namely:

• The Energy Conservation and Efficiency Sub-Committee;

• The Renewable Energy Sub-Committee;

• The Petroleum Advisory Committee;

• The Natural Gas Sub-Committee; and

• Public Engagement Sub-Committee.

The Jamaica Energy Council (JEC) was established by way of a Cabinet Decision in March 2012. In commending Minister Williams for her work and leadership of the Ministry Opposition Spokesperson on Energy Phillip Paulwell said “Minister Williams has done a tremendous job in steadying the ship and putting us back on the path towards progress we are witnessing in the Ministry. Energy is a sector which requires broad-based support and national consensus. We have done well in relation to diversification of energy sources and we are being transformed into a natural gas economy,” he said. She noted that the solution to Jamaica’s energy problem would require all members of the society to participate and that all views and ideas were important. The role of the Sub-Committees will be to expedite project implementation under the respective areas as well as provide oversight to the Policy Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

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