Highway 2000 to South-East Coast

Dear Editor:

Your article “PM Outlines Plans for South Coast Roadway” published on Thursday, June 16, 2016 states that current administration will not construct the south coast highway as previously planned for south-eastern Jamaica.

It would seem the Government has forgotten that the Logistics Hub facility stretches across four parishes: Clarendon, St. Catherine, Kingston and St. Thomas. In fact, a bunkering and commodity transhipment port is proposed to be built in St. Thomas, and highway 2000 links it with the remaining parts of the hub.

This alone is justification for the project. Or, has this component of the Logistics Hub also been scrapped? I hope not, especially considering that the proposed location of the port at Cow Bay (Old Bowden Wharf), near Yallas, has a naturally deep draught capable of berthing the largest of vessels.

If these plans are still active though, it should be realised that companies are spending billions of dollars to construct facilities in St. Catherine because they are expecting, in the words of Nestle Jamaica’s Country manager Jurg Blaser, “... a logistic footprint closer to the port and the major consumption centre of the corporate area ...”.

If the government is being pressured by tourism interests, it may be wise to consider that the future success of the Logistic Hub Initiative lies in the balance. What we need are policy decisions made in the national rather than sectoral interest. The widened Panama Canal is to be officially inaugurated on Sunday June 26, 2017 and we are ill-prepared for it.

Paul Hay is a Jamaican national, founder of PAUL HAY Capital Projects: a consultancy, based in Kingston Jamaica, with a vision of providing strategic planning and implementation services to organizations for non-residential facilities in the Caribbean.

Boost to Jamaica's Energy Efficiency Possible

Dear Editor, 

In the September 23, 2005 edition of your Financial Gleaner, Raymond Forrest's article 'We need to boost our Energy Efficiency' concludes with the statement: "... we have a major problem that requires conservation measures and change in current behaviour".  I am in full agreement.  We need to appreciate that oil is a non-renewable resource and needs to be treated accordingly.

But, changes are not only limited to transportation.  In the article 'Jamaica on the wrong side of the Energy Spectrum: Directions for the Future, part I', published in the January 27, 2005 edition of the Gleaner, Dr. Cezley Sampson noted the 23.5 percent of Jamaica's oil imports is used for transportation, but 25 percent is used in the generation of electricity, as Jamaica's energy demand is almost totally supplied by imported fuel.

Change in the design and operation of our buildings can therefore make significant contributions toward boosting energy efficiency.  Over 10 years go, a study undertaken in Thialand revealed that annual consumption of energy in stores and hotels could be reduced by up to 56 and 51 percent respectively.

The implementation of the conservation measures would even pay for themselves within one or two years.  A comparable local study revealed that annual consumption in our typical offices could be reduced by 30 - 36 percent, if these buildings complied with the Energy Efficiency Building Code (EEBC-94), in which case, the payback period was between 1.2 and 2.6 years.

Towards this end, the Jamaican Institute of Engineers is to be commended for including energy-efficiency as one aspect of their effort to revise the National Building Code.  Policymakers, design professionals, real estate developers, building owners and operators therefore need to take stock, and effect changes for the good of the nation and to improve returns on their investments.

Paul Hay is a Jamaican national, founder of PAUL HAY Capital Projects: a consultancy, based in Kingston Jamaica, with a vision of providing strategic planning and implementation services to organizations for non-residential facilities in the Caribbean.