A sound decision, Mr Prime Minister

Friday, June 03, 2011

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding is to be commended for moving responsibility for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project from former Energy Minister James Robertson to the Office of the Prime Minister when it became clear that controversy was looming.

For this project is too important to Jamaica to be stained by doubts about any aspect of its implementation. As it now turns out, two separate probes of the operations of the tender process — one done by a Steering Committee set up by the prime minister and chaired by Mr Christopher Zacca, and the other carried out by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) — have raised concerns about transparency and fairness.

The parties involved — Mr Ian Moore, a shareholder in Caribbean LNG, and the consortium comprising Belgian company Exmar and Colombian gas distribution firm Promigas and Caribbean LNG, which was given the nod to implement the million-dollar project — are insisting that their operations were above board and can stand up to any scrutiny.

It is important that they be given a fair hearing, especially since the contractor general has sent his report to the director of public prosecution and the police commissioner for any further action they may deem necessary.

Given that development, we will reserve comment on who might or might not be telling the truth in this matter. However, we hold that it was prudent of Mr Golding to have stepped in when he did in order to protect the project from irrevocable blemish.

For based on the OCG's report, it was Mr Moore himself who brought to the contractor general's attention the decision taken by Mr Golding to have the project put to tender.

As is outlined in the contractor general's report, Mr Moore had requested a meeting with the prime minister in order to update him on developments relating to the project.

The prime minister, after being briefed and after perusing the consortium's feasibility study, insisted that the project must be put to tender. His reason was sound: "Electricity would eventually be derived from this LNG source, and the rate payers are his constituents. So, although the Government was not buying anything specifically, nor was the Government putting up any money, the constituents would have to be protected," the OCG report quotes Mr Moore.

According to the report, Mr Moore said that initially he disagreed with the prime minister and pointed out that this was a private sector initiative that would see electricity pricing going down by more than 30 per cent. However, Mr Golding countered by saying, that if another company said they could lower the cost by 40 per cent, that could cause a problem, so there was no option but to put the project to tender.

The prime minister's reasoning, we reiterate, is logical and should bode well for the country in the long run.

The consortium may very well realise its goal of providing Jamaica with an energy source that is likely to reduce our dependence on oil. However, it must accept that any project of this magnitude that will have such a great impact on the country, and on the pockets of Jamaicans, needs to be free of suspicion.

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COMMENTS (10)

Wins Diaz
6/11/2011

Why viciously bash the Obs for commending your PM in its opinion, a good decision? I rarely scroll down to the comments section when I read many of these articles because it’s the same people using this medium advancing their agenda. Refer to the Boston Herald, the NY Post and Fox in my region and its so-called journalists led by Ailes and Murdoch and see its alliance with the GOP. You are fortunate to have a section where you can state your views: biased, polarizing &one thinking ad nauseam

george watson
6/5/2011

Instead of the editorial doing what it intended, promoting the prime minister (for what he was forced to do and should have done in the first place) it seems that the Observer is out, caught in the slips.
Just goes to show Observer that people are wising up and don't necessarily believe it just because it appears in print anymore. It is becoming more difficult to fool us
Meanwhile you continue to blow your credibility.

David Armstrong
6/3/2011

What the Observer should be asking is if the PM has the knowledge and skills to manage this important project. Ofcourse he will delegate the responsibility to an advisor or consultant. The real concern is though will he pick good advisor or consultants. He has a penchant for picking people who seems to have an affinity to controversy and a lack of expertise.

mark jones
6/3/2011

The observer is a trip......What manner of nonsense is this...This is 2011 people are more informed and are able to see things for what they are. Please preserve your journalistic integrity

Nicholas Mundell
6/3/2011

"However, we hold that it was prudent of Mr Golding to have stepped in when he did in order to protect the project from irrevocable blemish"
Dear Mr. Editor, Mr Golding only stepped in when the US revoked Robertson's visa, why didn't the PM step in when there was public outcry over the handling of the project?
Seems as if the US Govt. have more say in Jamaican matters than the Jamaican people.

John Smith
6/3/2011

Looking on the face of it you have to wonder if - with these multiple instances of corruption - people just don't know the rules. They don't know the law & end up breaking the law unknowingly? Either they do it knowingly or unknowingly but either way they're respectively criminal or incompetent & therefore should be denied any positions involving critical decision making. Either-or, people: they're either incompetent idiots or basal criminals. Which would you prefer?

John Smith
6/3/2011

Gentles & Cole make sense. This reads like a "glass 1% full as opposed to 99% empty" sermon by the Observer with their pom poms. The PM being forced to take these projects under his wings also shows a lack of talent in the pool. Of course, Robertson was resigned. I think we in Jamaica need to tread carefully between praising a worthy action & praising what is only to be expected of people in positions of leadership. Is this basic school, where you're trying to teach a child right vs wrong?

Brad Kerr
6/3/2011

With this set back in the process, are we any closer to get releif from the massive JPS bills? The PM political instinc was correct when he move the project from Robertson portfolio, I am just wonder how much more of a delay will this cost. As bringing down the cost of electricity will go a long way in boosting economic out put, while taking pressure offf families. Let's hope the PM will get it right this time around. ..Just a thought!

Ainsworth Cole
6/3/2011

The genises of Jamaica's failed development can be charted in all the failed big projects that was lauched or promoted with big fanfare only to flounder in the storms of scandal, mismanagement, and general mediocracy. Look back on our path to underdevelopment and failure, look what happened to all the lofty ideals and projects started or conceptulised with good intentions. When are we ever going to get things right, what is the problem here, is it politics, unprofessionalism or mediocre meddling

Paul Gentles
6/3/2011

Dear Editor - it seems you look for each and every opportunity to laud the pm,unfortunately for you they are hard to come by. The pm would have merited being lauded had he sacked the presiding minister outright to send a signal that abuse of position is not acceptable under his tenure - alas who is he to lay that accusiation? The truth is the pm's position is untenable as he has lost moral authority. Each brick you use to build him up is a brick less in your house,careful...it will fall.

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GCT to go down, white rum prices going up

A sound decision, Mr Prime Minister