Sectoral Debate FINAL Debate 2013.pdfThank you to my Business Partners and staff for the great level of loyalty and understanding -- we the members of this Honourable House know all

2013 Sectoral Debate May 28, 2013

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Sectoral Debate Presentation

Mr. Gregory Mair, MP

Opposition Spokesperson for Industry, Commerce and

Energy

Preliminaries

Mr. Speaker, I thank you and the members of the House for allowing me time

to present today on portfolios that are essential to steering Jamaica towards

sustained economic growth and development.

Before I move into the core of my presentation let me once again thank the

Leader of the Opposition for entrusting in me responsibility for the Industry,

Commerce and Energy portfolios.

Let me also commend you Mr. Speaker for your professional and respectful

leadership of the House.

To my Constituents in North East St. Catherine and my hardworking political

organization, I say thank you for believing in me and for your unwavering

support over the past five years. They are the ones who have won three


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consecutive elections. I undertake to keep working hard in the pursuit of a

better standard of living for all of them.

Thank you to my Business Partners and staff for the great level of loyalty and

understanding -- we the members of this Honourable House know all too

well the taxing effect that Politics takes on your personal life.

On that score Mr. Speaker, I must thank my wife and children for their

unwavering and unconditional support and for continuing to give me the

impetus to keep serving at the highest level, representational politics.

Above all, Mr. Speaker I thank God for giving me the strength and courage to

carry on and for always being there in challenging times.

INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry, Investment & Commerce (MIIC) spoke

to his portfolio earlier this month under the theme “achieving

transformational growth”. In that presentation, the member from Western

St. Andrew promised to “deepen (our) understanding of the strategy to


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achieve growth and showcase the Ministry’s plans to diversify the economy

and stimulate wealth and job creation.”1

After the pleasantries and opening remarks - he informed us that Jamaica is

suffering from thirty (30) years of low growth without admitting that it was

his party, the PNP, that led Jamaica for twenty (20) of those years. As a

matter of fact Mr. Speaker, the only period of growth occurring under those

30 years was under the Seaga led JLP Government that pulled Jamaica from

the disastrous economic stewardship of the 1970s, leaving Jamaica by 1989,

on a growth trajectory of 5 percent GDP2.

He then continued by launching into a lecture, a research paper, that

supposedly situates his Ministry as the driver of economic growth and

development.

Jamaica, Mr. Speaker, is not short on analysis, indeed, Jamaica is not short on

reviews and recommendations. What we are short of, and the Minister has

failed to present, is a project plan with a timetable and specifics. A project

plan which moves us from talk and there has been plenty of that; a project

plan which demonstrates to all tax payers the value of the Member’s many

trips abroad in the last 12 months; a project plan that not only tells us the 1 Page 5, Sectoral Budget Presentation, Hon. Anthony Hylton – May 14 2013

2 http://www.indexmundi.com/jamaica/gdp_real_growth_rate.html


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end game but give us a workable path - with specifics, inclusive of timelines,

deliverables and a budget on how to achieve the objectives.

Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting on an executable, practical, solutions

focused, PLAN from the Minister.

Mr. Speaker, last year when the Minister stood before this Honourable

House, Jamaica had recorded a ranking of 85 in the 2011 World Bank’s Doing

Business Report, that fell to 88 in the 2012 report and in the latest report we

have once again slipped and now rank 90th3

. And what solutions has the

Minister proffered to halt this decline? He speaks of

• The Global Shipping & Logistics Hub

• ICT/BPO sector

• International Financial Services

• Agro processing

Sounds familiar? It should, these are the same solutions presented in his

2012 address to the House. Let us accept that these are indeed the

solutions. But what about the progress:

3Sectoral debate presentations 2012 and 2013 – Hon. Anthony Hylton


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For example, in relation to the freezone in Naggos Head, St. Catherine, in

2012 the Minister said, “We expect to start the build out of 100,000 square

feet of new space ….., to offset the pent up demand for space.” Now this

year in relation to the same Naggos Head the Minister referenced the

development of 750,000 sq. ft. of space, showed us a picture of former

Minister Karl Samuda’s artistic impression from 2009 and has failed to tell us

where we are today. This makes me conclude that we are still at square one.

Mr. Speaker, another example is former Minister Samuda’s Caymanas

Economic Zone, where he left a template with investors at the table and

development slated to begin in 2012. This year, Minister Hylton has reported

that “yesterday the Cabinet has reaffirmed the decision of the previous

administration to utilize the 200 acres of land earmarked at Caymanas

Estate….” Mr. Speaker, it has taken the Minister over sixteen months to get

the Cabinet to approve a project he inherited in January 2012, and he

expects us to believe that he will be able to have the Global Logistics Hub up

and running by 2015?

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister what is the status of the dredging of the

Kingston Harbour, the transshipment commodity port in Yallahs-St. Thomas

and your dry dock facility at Jackson Bay-Clarendon.


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Even Mr. Speaker, in announcing an investment in Jamaica, the Minister is

repeating the same thing – the ISOCON Tanker Cleaning Facility was used as

an example in 2012 and now again in 2013. Mr. Speaker, aren’t there any

new investors or investments?

Mr. Speaker, after 17 months in Government Minister Hylton:

1. Has achieved NOTHING

2. Continues to only talk about plans he inherited from the previous

administration, and;

3. He has not brought one single new idea to the table

What a grand waste of taxpayer’s money, Mr. Speaker. No Action, No Plan,

Just talk of a pipe dream.

I wonder, Mr. Speaker, is that the reason why the Minister is not leading the

Global Logistics Hub opportunity for Jamaica? Is this why the Prime Minister,

in her contribution to the budget debate, announced that it is now being led

by Professor Gordon Shirley who will Chair a National Task Force? Why is the

Minister not chairing and leading this process? Could it be that the Prime

Minister is fed up of the Minister’s tardiness?


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Mr. Speaker, the Logistics Hub is a pipe dream. Until the Minister presents

the nation with a credible plan, with details and deadlines, it will only be a

pipedream which will disappear and will, by 2015, be lost to our regional

competitors, who are already ahead of the curb… Minister, the race started

three years ago and you are still in the starting block “gearing up”!

Mr. Speaker, what about our local manufacturers? Last year the Minister

gave them a one pager, this year NOTHING! Is the Minister aware that

Jamaican manufacturers last year contributed 8.6 per cent to GDP (over 20%

in the year 2000), employed 6.8 per cent of the labour force, or 75,000

persons, contributed J$30.5 billion in taxes to the Government, and earned

US$739.2 million in foreign exchange4 in spite of the hostile business

environment?

Mr. Speaker we the Opposition believe in our manufacturers. We believe

that they are worthy of more than a page and that they deserve more

support from the Government.

The country is in desperate need of economic stimulus and policies that will

be conducive of this.

4 http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130116/news/news5.html


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Mr. Speaker, we need to drive demand at no cost to government. I am sure

the Minister of Finance would appreciate this, as there is no fiscal space with

which the government can fuel growth.

I would therefore like to propose to the government three economic drivers:

Economic Driver 1

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT OF JAMAICAN PRODUCTS

Mr. Speaker, I have made this proposal with no “buy in” from government

and I repeat it again, as I believe the government must move decisively in

this direction. I propose the establishment of a Jamaican Product Mark (JPM)

where goods with over let’s say 65 percent local added value will qualify. In

making purchases, the government should give preference to any product

with the JPM. This is one of the strategies Trinidad and Tobago introduced

decades ago to build their manufacturing sector and look where they are

today!

Mr. Speaker let us spend Jamaican taxpayer’s money on Jamaican products.

This will foster the development of entrepreneurs as they will see a ready

market, it will stimulate local investment, local competition and we will

foster growth, employment and development. Mr. Speaker, THE JAMAICAN

GOVERNMENT SHOULD BUY JAMAICAN PRODUCTS!!


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Economic Driver 2

DEVELOP A SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRY

Mr. Speaker, the Government should make it compulsory that all

Government buildings have solar photovoltaic systems. Every government

building must have solar panels energizing their lights, fans and other

equipment. Not only will it bring savings in foreign exchange used by JPS to

purchase fuel, but it will also reduce the electricity bills of Government and

stimulate the growth of an industry of which Jamaica could become the

Caribbean Leader.

Mr. Speaker, we should also make this policy compulsory for all Government

related housing schemes.

Let the Government drive demand in Solar energy. If done properly we could

see an industry where we have solar photovoltaic panels and solar heating

assembly plants, exporting to the Caribbean and by extension, the world.

Why not?

Mr. Speaker, if we make the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) more

efficient, we will have a source of funding for this project. As we are aware,

the PCJ is funded by the 1% commission earned from the sale of fuel to


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Petrojam. The PCJ does not require all this funding and the majority of it

should be dedicated to building this industry. It is a win/win all around.

Economic Driver 3

PAY PETROCARIBE WITH JAMAICAN GOODS

Mr. Speaker, Article IV of the Petrocaribe agreement states, among other

things, that “With regard to deferred payments, Venezuela shall be able to

accept that the partial payments be done with products, goods and/or

services, previously agreed by the parties, based on preferential rates

proposed by the Government of Jamaica.”5

What this means Mr. Speaker, in a nutshell, is that we can pay for fuel

purchased under this agreement with goods made in Jamaica, not only

manufactured goods but also produce.

Mr. Speaker, Venezuela imports a lot, and we have failed to take advantage

of this clause of the Petrocaribe Agreement. Only last month, on a tour of

South America, the newly elected President of Venezuela negotiated the

purchase of over 750,000 tons of food6.

5http://www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/summit/PetroCaribe.pdf

6http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9236


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Mr. Speaker, our Government should meet with our counterparts in

Venezuela, like many other countries have, and agree on the goods we will

be selling them in exchange for their fuel.

Once this is done, Government should encourage the establishment and

expansion of the industries that will capitalize on this arrangement. This

will guarantee a secure market for our products, so let us put our people to

work! Not a short term crash work programme, but sustainable, wealth

generating work that will provide long term jobs!

Mr. Speaker, let us save foreign exchange, let us induce growth in the

manufacturing sector and in agriculture, let us pay our fuel bill with Jamaican

goods.

Trade Imbalance with Caricom

Electricity subsidy

Mr. Speaker, the trade imbalance in particular with T&T is a matter that has

been at the forefront of many debates across the country, particularly in the

last year.


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I am not going to debate whether we should depart or not depart CARICOM,

that I leave for another occasion. However, the reality is that manufactured

goods imported from Trinidad & Tobago are subsidized with cheap

electricity.

Mr. Speaker the cheapest source of electricity is nuclear, and the average

cost (not sale price) in the USA per KwH is US$0.037. That is what the

manufacturers of Trinidad & Tobago pay from fossil generated electricity,

US$0.03. There is no question Mr. Speaker that their goods are subsidized

and are brought into Jamaica to compete against our manufacturers who pay

one of highest electricity rates in the Caribbean.

Mr. Speaker, T&T is dumping their products in our market. We must level the

playing field. We need to activate the Customs Duties (Dumping and

Subsidies) Act. Section 11 (1) says “Duties shall be imposed, in accordance

with subsection (2), on all dumped or subsidized goods imported into

Jamaica in respect of which, before the release of the goods, the Commission

has made a finding that the dumping or subsidizing of such goods has caused,

is causing or is likely to cause material injury.”8

7 http://world-nuclear.org/info/Economic-Aspects/Economics-of-Nuclear-Power/#.UaOBBkDVCuA

8http://www.sice.oas.org/antidumping/legislation/jamaica/CDA_e.asp


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Even further Mr. Speaker, Section 15 (1) of the said Act says “Where the

Commission makes a preliminary determination in respect of the dumping or

subsidizing of imported goods at any stage of an investigation under this Act,

there may be imposed, in respect of those goods, provisional duties in

accordance with this section.”

So I ask Mr. Speaker, what are we waiting for? I say, let us impose a

provisional duty right away.

Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that a team of Ministers from Trinidad &

Tobago will be in Jamaica the day after the imposition of such a provisional

duty. They will be knocking at our Government’s doors.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, let T&T know that in the same way they

want a share of our high consuming market, we want a share of their cheap

energy.

Mr. Speaker, T&T exports 15 million cubic tones of LNG per year. T&T used to

go to the US market, but with shale gas appearing in the US in abundance,

T&T has found itself “in a pickle” and has had to shift to new markets9. Mr.

Speaker - we want a share of their LNG.

9 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-13/trinidad-lng-exports-to-u-s-plunge-on-shale-gas-supply-rise-1-.html


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Certification of origin

Mr. Speaker, on the matter of certification of origin, it took the Minister of

Industry Investment & Commerce six months to take action on Petrotrin,

Trinidad’s state oil refinery, for selling to Jamaica non-CARICOM as original

CARICOM products. I applaud you Minister. Finally you are realizing what is

going on. Well that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Mr. Speaker it is about time the Minister, as he did with Petrotrin, starts to

demand proof of origin for many of the goods that are brought into Jamaica

from T&T “under the radar”. Let Trinidad and Tobago prove to us that their

products are truly CARICOM. If not, PENALTY! Put down your foot Minister.

Be not afraid. You are only fighting for Jamaica!

Mr. Speaker, in attending her first CARICOM summit, held here in Jamaica in

April 2011, PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar in referring to her CARICOM partners

said “Each time there is a shortfall we cannot continue like Trinidad and

Tobago is an ATM card ... you come in you put the card there and you come

back out with cash. It just cannot happen anymore”10

.

10

http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2011/04/110401_arch_kamlaatm.shtml


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Well Madam PM Persad-Bissessar, I say to you Jamaica can no longer afford

to be Trinidad and Tobago’s dumping ground.

Many of us are tired and fed up of the abuse, and are calling on the present

Government to take action!

Look how last month T&T blocked Grenada’s honey from entering their

country on the basis of an unproven disease that would supposedly harm

their bee industry?11

Mr. Speaker, you think the government of T&T plays

games when it comes to their manufacturing industry?

Minister level the playing field, lead and be courageous.

Scrap Metal

Mr. Speaker, on the point of the controversial scrap metal trade, let me note

that the Minister, since its re-introduction, is yet to present data highlighting

the cost of this industry to the government and also the revenue intake since

the reopening of the trade. Is the Government losing money? In his

contribution to the Sectoral Debate he made no reference to any data

whatsoever. As I have said before, the supply cannot meet the demand for

non-industrial scrap metal on a sustainable basis.

11

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130509/business/business1.html


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Mr. Speaker, I say that while there may be benefits to the trade, it must be

done with sensible and pragmatic policies guided by a feasibility study. I once

again propose that the best way forward for the industry, is to have legal

owners of NON-INDUSTRIAL scrap metal periodically negotiate in the

marketplace DIRECTLY with legitimate dealers.

Mr. Speaker the government needs to get it right.

Mr. Speaker, I now turn to the matter of Energy and the challenges we face

as a nation.

ENERGY

The Minister of Energy in his contribution to the Budget debate last month

gave us an update on issues we all know of already, among other things, on:

1. low sulphur diesel

2. Interest in divesting Petcom

3. The Public efficiency programme

4. 120 Mw procurement of renewable energy

5. Net billing (2approvals/50 applications)

6. Wheeling, and;


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7. An update on the 360 MW bid.

360 Mw bid

The 360 Mw bid for the replacement of JPS’ base load is presently of great

importance. In his update, the Minister advised this Honourable House that

the OUR had received unsolicited proposals from five entities, of which three

entities were accepted for a second phase of negotiations. Interestingly the

Minister then announced that Cabinet, not the OUR, had received another

unsolicited proposal much AFTER THE DEADLINE set by the OUR, and that

this Company out of Hong Kong had quoted, in the Cabinet’s opinion, an

attractive price and hence, Cabinet had taken the decision that it be

considered by the OUR.

What is interesting Mr. Speaker, is that this Hong Kong based Company,

which we now know is Energy World International Limited, did not send their

proposal to the OUR but to Cabinet. And I ask the question, why?

Furthermore Mr. Speaker, Cabinet with whatever expertise it may have in

energy, concludes that the proposal is a worthy one and must be considered

by the OUR. And I ask, how come? To make matters worse Mr. Speaker, the

OUR has accepted this “fourth” proposal for consideration.


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So I ask myself, why did Energy World International go through Cabinet in the

first instance?

Why did Cabinet not indicate to Energy World International that they should

send their proposal directly to the OUR?

Why has the OUR accepted their proposal after the deadline of March 15,

2013?

Mr. Speaker we need answers. I hope the Minister and the OUR can answer

these questions with a level of urgency!

This Mr. Speaker is highly irregular and I now see a dark cloud forming itself

over the OUR by this Company out of Hong Kong. And I would like to advise

this Honourable House that the Opposition rejects the state of affairs

surrounding the Energy World International bid and we will not accept any

recommendation by the OUR on their proposal other than its dismissal.

Mr. Speaker, at my request, the OUR gave an update on the proceedings on

the 360 MW bid to the ECJ on Friday the 17th

of May.


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Unfortunately, the presentation by the OUR fell below the expectations of

the JEC. But most importantly, the OUR at that time could not even advise of

a deadline for a final recommendation.

I have since further requested, through the JEC, that the OUR come before

the JEC to defend its final recommendation to Cabinet. Mr. Speaker, the fact

that you are an independent regulator does not mean you are not

accountable, and we must ensure that the OUR is aware that they will be

held accountable in the management of this 360 Mw bid process, and that

the Opposition will be steadfast in ensuring transparency and equity.

Whereas the negotiations may be private, and that we understand, it does

not mean the OUR can do as it pleases, and therefore they must be

transparent about this entire process and ensure that the people of Jamaica,

once a decision is taken, will know in their heart and mind that whomever is

selected to build the 360 Mw plant, is the one who will do so in their best

interest.

Finally on this matter Mr. Speaker, I hope that whoever is awarded the 360

Mw generating plant has gas as their main fuel and not oil. We must

diversify as we already are too dependent on HFO and are seeking to spread


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the risk. Of the total installed electricity generating capacity of 900 Mw, 836

Mw is oil (HFO/ADO) – 93%.

120 Mw Coal plant

And as the OUR is working on the 360 Mw bid, I urge the Minister to start the

process for the replacement and upgrade of an additional 120 Mw of JPS’

generating capacity.

Our National Energy Policy in its main dictates that we pursue diversification

of energy. By 2016, hopefully, we should have 360 Mw of gas, 476 Mw left in

oil (214 JPS, 262 IPP), and 174 Mw (110 new, 41 wind, 23 hydro) in

Renewable Energy. It is only reasonable that we agree that the missing

source in the mix is coal.

Minister let us not waste time as the procurement, cost and construction of a

coal plant will take from beginning to end five years; if we start now we can

then be looking at 2018 for the commissioning of our coal plant.

Short term solutions

These Mr. Speaker are all midterm solutions to the energy challenge we face,

but what will we do in the short term between now and the commissioning

of the 360 Mw base load generating plant in 2016?


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I would like to make two proposals:

Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO)

Mr. Speaker, Petrojam is a majority owned Government company that

controls over 86% of the total market (non-bauxite) of Petroleum Products12

.

It is a quasi monopoly. They are protected by a Common External Tariff (CET)

of 10% which allows them to be the dominant player to the detriment of the

Jamaican consumers.

I have been asking Petrojam for the past year to publicize their price

mechanism/calculation, again to no avail. Mr. Speaker, I even got copies of

all the contracts between Petrojam and JPS and the IPPs, but with the section

that addresses the pricing arrangement erased.

Mr. Speaker all the HFO used in the generation of electricity is purchased by

JPS from Petrojam, and this is because when going to tender no one outside

of Jamaica can compete with Petrojam because of the 10% CET protection it

enjoys. JPS recently went to tender and Petrojam once again emerged as the

winning bid. So you can understand the relevance of this matter, this

12

STEM Ministry Paper 52/13 dated April 24, 2013


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contract Mr. Speaker represents a monthly cheque of $6 billion paid to

Petrojam by the consumers of electricity (via JPS).

Mr. Speaker, we must do something to reduce the cost of energy, in

particular electricity, and we must start now, not wait 2 to 3 years. Section 4

under the Bauxite and Alumina Industries (Encouragement) Act13

exempts

alumina and bauxite producers from paying customs duty or similar

imposition upon the importation of petrol fuel oil or diesel.

Why don’t we level the playing field, have a real competitive environment in

the fuel sector and give JPS, and by extension the consumers of electricity,

the same status as the alumina/bauxite producers. Let JPS initiate a tender

process where all providers of HFO/ADO in the world will compete and

where we will see the consumers of electricity benefiting from close to a 15%

reduction of the fuel cost which would be approximately 10% of our bills.

Mr. Speaker, I say this based on information I have in my possession. The

Bauxite Industry purchases HFO 15% cheaper than JPS!

13

http://www.moj.gov.jm/sites/default/files/laws/The%20Bauxite%20and%20Alumina%20Industries%20%28Encouragement

%29%20Act.pdf


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Maybe Mr. Speaker, we could probably even havr JPS joining the Bauxite

companies in this tender in the pursuit of a volume discount that could

benefit us all even more.

Let us see if Petrojam can compete in the world market. If we have true

competition then their price mechanism is irrelevant, as who will set the

price is the market not the monopoly.

ELECTRICITY THEFT

The second proposal Mr. Speaker is the matter of theft of electricity. Out of

every 100 Kw generated only 75 are metered by JPS. That means 25 Kw are

lost along the transmission and generation lines. What are those loses: 10

Kw are technical and 15 Kw are stolen.

These 15 Kw of stolen electricity out of every 100 Kw generated means that

15% of all electricity generated is stolen. We are talking about theft, a

criminal act. And do not believe that theft of electricity is confined to poor

communities. It also occurs in “Upper St. Andrew” and in the industrial

community! It happens across the board! 120,000 illegal customers of JPS!

21% of the 571,000 legal customers!


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As in all that is stolen, somebody is paying for it. So the question is who is

paying for the US$60M, which is the yearly cost of stolen electricity? In this

particular case, based on the OUR’s determination, half is paid by JPS and the

other half by the legal consumers of electricity. JA$6 Billion is stolen every

year.

So what would be the impact on the bills of the legal customers of JPS if

there was no theft? If we were to totally eliminate theft of electricity that

would represent a reduction of 5% of the bill for the lawful customers of

JPS14

.

Mr. Speaker we must no longer condone the theft of electricity. For too long

we (the politicians) have looked the other way. Theft of electricity is a

criminal act and must be treated as such. From a logistics perspective

tackling theft of electricity is made easier by the fact that it occurs in clearly

defined areas, mostly in the Kingston Metropolitan area and the Montego

Bay area.

Mr. Speaker, the Government must sit down with JPS and agree on a clearly

defined strategy for tackling the theft of electricity. It is costing JPS over

US$30 million a year, therefore I am sure that they would be more than

14

Options to Bring Down Electricity Costs in Jamaica_Castalia - 2011


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willing to help finance the fight against this criminal act, whether to finance a

special division in the police force and/or a special branch in our Court

system. I also propose that we table legislation, as has been done in India

and Pakistan, to clearly define the punishment for electricity theft. In India it

is up to 3 years imprisonment and up to 5 years for a repeat offender15

!

Going forward also Mr. Speaker, I reiterate a proposal made by the Leader of

the Opposition for Electricity to be included as part of the PATH Program to

help the less fortunate among us to pay their electricity bills.

Beyond that Mr. Speaker we must also support the installation of the pre-

paid metre; JPS will be implementing a pilot project in July. This Mr. Speaker

will give many in our country the opportunity to pay as you go.

Mr. Speaker a coordinated social intervention program is needed to arrest

the problem of electricity theft and move people into the legal column. Many

Jamaicans I know are more than willing do things the right way. As such we

must do what we can to point our citizenry to the legal path.

Mr. Speaker, we urgently need a paradigm shift of what electricity represents

to Jamaica and its consumers!

15

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10235602/ELECTRICITY-ACT-2003-ANTI-THEFT-PROVISIONS


Page 26

Therefore Mr. Speaker, if we were to tackle the cost of fuel and the theft of

electricity now we could see in the short term approximately a 15%

reduction in the cost of electricity. If we add an additional 20% savings

(minimum) with the new base load generation plant, that is 35% within the

next 2 to 3 years. And if we go even further and add 10% of savings with the

new coal plant we are looking at a 45% reduction in the cost of electricity by

2018! Now that is what I call an objective we must all work together to

accomplish.

I urge the Minister of Energy to embrace this target, put in place the plan,

the timetable and the implementation strategy, and accomplish the

objective: 45% reduction of the cost of electricity within the next 5 years!

CLOSING

In closing Mr. Speaker, let me urge the Ministers of Industry and Energy to

demonstrate bold leadership. Leadership which is uncommon and visionary

and that is based on a plan, with timetables and specifics.

As I did in 2012, I have put forward solutions; solutions which I believe can

advance Jamaica’s welfare. As leaders we are all called on to not take the

easy road or indeed the politically expedient path but to build and


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demonstrate vision and commitment to the hard but true path. That Mr.

Speaker is our challenge!

I thank you Mr. Speaker.

Documents

Sectoral Debate FINAL Debate 2013.pdfThank you to my Business Partners and staff for the great level of loyalty and understanding -- we the members of this Honourable House know all