Tread cautiously on climate projects

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I READ with much delight the recent official launch of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator in Jamaica. I am sure that the countries of the Caribbean are in line to benefit from this initiative.

Allow me, however, to express my caution to my friends in the Caribbean regarding the loans that come through this programme and others like it. Energy projects in the Caribbean are not the easiest of initiatives to implement. While I must commend countries such as Grenada and Barbados, which seem to be able to implement ambitious energy projects, funded through agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank, no such luck on my island home of Jamaica.

A look through the newspaper articles of the last five years, for example, shows there are no successfully funded IDB major energy projects, with funds loaned from that noble institution.

I have seen one large project involving energy efficiency being launched and relaunched, but to date, no results to speak of. I also found some involvement with an Integrated Resources Programme, but a call to some of my friends in the country shows there is no resource plan in place and they continue to have numerous new energy projects on hold because of this.

They also asked me to do even more searches online to find any successful major energy projects funded by the Bank in Jamaica in recent times, and alas, there are none. Hence my concern.

Many of these attempts at executing energy projects involve loans, even though some are grants. As a country, tread we must, but tread carefully when attempting these projects as they will have to be repaid – with interest.