Dear Editor,

This is in response to Christine Griffiths’ letter on February 29, “What is Minister Paulwell thinking?”

She asked the following question which I believe can’t be right: “Can he find a way to help us do this?”

In an article on February 27, Minister Paulwell said solar was an essential investment and he urged Jamaicans to take up the solar-energy system loan being offered by the National Housing Trust.

Of course, not all of us can afford such a system, but we do not have to install a huge system which costs more than we have worked for in a lifetime. The minister did not say that we are ordered by law to abandon JPS. Instead, he said it would cost us less in the long run.

We need to move beyond the bridge where Jamaicans believe that everything in their lives must be paid for or provided by the government. We are all affected by the high cost of electricity and every day we flare up about it. Now that someone has come up with an option, some start to fight. The minister clearly mentioned how one can attain a solar-energy system: contact the National Housing Trust.

I cannot afford such an alternative, but I believe that this is a wonderful idea when considering long-term benefits.

Conrad Guthrie

conradguthrie@gmail.com