Above: Kingston

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The future of energy development in Jamaica is in the hands of the private sector, according to Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell.

The Minister said the duty of Jamaica’s government was to enable an environment for investment, and then to regulate that environment to ensure that rules are fair and observed by all.

“We have taken the important step of creating the legislative environment,” he said. “We now need to improve on the bureaucracy of our regulatory environment because we need those investments to bring in jobs and we need to reduce our crippling oil bill.”

The call to reduce the latter has been a major priority for Paulwell since assuming office at the beginning of 2012, following Jamaica’s December 2011 election.

Paulwell said that Jamaica’s renewable energy market is now fully liberalized and open to competition, after the country’s Senate voted unanimously Friday to approve the Extension of Functions Amendment Order, which removes the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica’s exclusive right to exploit and develop green energy in Jamaica.

It “is in keeping with the goals of our national energy policy, which calls for a modern, efficient, diversified and environmentally sustainable energy sector providing affordable and accessible energy supplies,” he said.