Trinidad: Farmer names killer before dying, suspect held
(Trinidad Guardian) Moruga farmer Damien Mollineau planned to pamper his wife on Boxing Day yesterday by cooking for her while she rested.
Instead, he died on her lap while being rushed to the hospital after he was shot in his garden not far from their Edward Trace, Moruga home.
Before he died he told his brother and wife the name of the person who shot him. Police have since arrested the alleged shooter who lives in the community.
When the T&T Guardian visited Mollineau’s home where he lived with his wife Natalie Riley-Mollineau and his four children, 17, 12, eight and five, relatives, friends and villagers were distraught.
In an emotionally-charged atmosphere filled with sadness, grief and anger, they were trying to come to terms with his death. The shooting took place around 7.15 am.
Mollineau, 40, had asked his older brother Alfred Douglas to take him to his garden in his (brother) van, as his vehicle had a punctured tyre. When they arrived, Douglas said his brother asked him to wait for him and he exited the van.
Barely able to contain his grief, Douglas recalled that as his brother walked into the garden he heard a loud explosion. “I hear bow! That was the first round they shoot. I say like somebody hunting. The second one I hear he start to bawl ‘Ibo, Ibo, Ibo, (name call) shooting me boy. (Name call) shooting me boy, (Name call) I see yuh boy. (Name call) I seeing yuh boy, yuh shooting meh boy (name called), yuh shooting meh.’ And he run and he come by the slay where he does tie he bison and the bag he was going in the garden, he leave it right there.”
Douglas showed his vest, that was stained with his brother’s blood which was running down his brother’s face.
He said Damien was shot on his face, arms and back. Douglas who walks with a stick sobbed, “I try to hold him. I tell him doh fall down in the mud because I can’t tote yuh.” Douglas said he managed to get him into his van and drove to Mollineau’s home. Mollineau’s wife, a housewife, said she heard Douglas bawling out and she jumped off her bed. She saw her husband exiting the van with blood running down his face. He told her the name of the person who had shot him. (Jamaica Observer) The new 194 megawatt (MW) natural gas power plant in Old Harbour, St Catherine is now operational, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) announced Monday night.
According to JPS, the plant — which is operated by South Jamaica Power Company (SJPC), a JPS affiliate — was declared operational shortly after midnight on Tuesday, December 17 and since then has been operating continually, providing clean, efficient power to the national grid.
The light and power company explained that after SJPC broke ground for the new plant in March 2017, the facility was renamed The South Jamaica Power Centre upon completion.
“South Jamaica Power Centre is now the most efficient, fuel-burning power producer in the country,” JPS said. “The plant will generate electricity using natural gas in a more efficient manner than any other plant in the country. The new plant will play a critical role in improving power supply reliability. This plant will provide cleaner energy than the older plants that it will replace.”
Built at a cost of US$330 million, the project employed more than 470 Jamaicans during the peak of construction.
“While we encountered challenges associated with a project of this magnitude, we are happy to declare the plant ready to serve JPS’ customers,” the release quotes SJPC management committee chairman and JPS board director Mo Majeed.
“We fully expect the inclusion of natural gas in power generation to result in greater fuel diversification and the stabilisation of electricity costs over the long term, while enhancing energy security for the nation,” Majeed added.
The integration of more renewables on the grid and improved technology will lower generation costs, as well as Jamaica’s exposure to the volatility in world oil prices, JPS explained.
“The new plant and natural gas will replace the heavy fuel oil (HFO) now used for much of the country’s electricity generation. This shift to natural gas will result in cleaner and more environmentally friendly energy,” the light and power company said.
The combined cycle power plant has the capacity to support 300,000 homes. The new system uses three dual fuel natural-gas-fired/Automotive Diesel Oil gas turbine generators, three supplemental natural gas-fired heat recovery steam generators, one steam turbine generator, a seawater cooled condenser, and related ancillary equipment.
The new plant is located next to the old JPS power station, which will be completely decommissioned in 2020. It will replace several of JPS’ 50-year-old generating units that run on HFO and that are due for retirement.
The South Jamaica Power Centre is Jamaica’s second power plant to operate on natural gas, following the conversion of JPS’ Bogue Power Station in Montego Bay from Automotive Diesel Oil.