KINGSTON, Jamaica – A light bulb distribution project to cut electricity cost is to come to a close in St Kitts this December after benefitting approximately 24,000 households.

According to information from the St Kitts government just over 3,000 homes have already benefitted from the recently implemented Light Exchange and Distribution (LED) Programme, and an additional 15,000 in St Kitts and 6,000 in Nevis are expected to be reached by the end of December 2014.

The programme is a collaborative initiative by the St Kitts Ministry of Energy and the Sugar Industry Diversification Fund (SIDF) the government said in a release.

Starting 2015 all residents of St Kitts/Nevis will see significant reductions in their energy costs, a move that has been getting excellent feedback, the release added.

 “People are excited about the programme because the bulbs will cut electricity bills almost in half. The bulbs are designed specifically to suit the energy usage in the federation by reducing fuel consumption to produce electricity,” said Project Coordinator Gerhon Joseph. “We’ve not had any negative responses at all so far.”

With a 45-member team, Joseph says every village in St Kitts so far has been visited and installations will resume again this Saturday (November 08).

A similar project in Jamaica to distribute bulbs, donated by the Cuban government, ended up in the court after accusations of pilfering and misappropriation of funds.