Being the successful bidder for all three previous phases of the National Street Lighting Replacement Project, FosRich, one of Jamaica’s premier lighting companies has put in a bid for the final phase.

This final phase of the project is slated to cost some US$5 million with the entire four phases budgeted to cost between US$200 US$30 million. The National Street Lighting Replacement Project involves the changing out of some 110,000 high-intensity discharge (HID) street lamps to the energy-saving smart LED lamps and represents one of Jamaica’s largest energy efficiency projects.

This changing out of HID street lamps to the smart LED version is expected to result in significant savings on the Government’s monthly bill for street lighting. FosRich Managing Director Cecil Foster has confirmed that his company has put in a bid for the final phase, which is now being adjudicated by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), which is the executing agency.

Speaking at last week’s Jamaica Observer Business Forum, Foster says he is anticipating a positive response to its latest request for proposal (RFP) for the replacement of the street lamps, having done work on the three previous phases of the project. When pressed about the details of the bid made by FosRich, Foster remarked, “I can’t speak on that last phase, RFP bidding process. Can’t speak on the bid. They [JPS] will shortly announce…an announcement can be made by JPS in a week or two.”

UNWILLING TO SPEAK FURTHER ON THE MATTER

He was hesitant to speak any further on the fourth phase of the street lighting replacement project, only saying that about 30,000 street lamps are to be replaced in this coming fourth and final phase. Foster pointed out that JPS has decided to do the replacement project in four phases, with 75,000 to 80,000 lamps already replaced in the previous phases of the project. The Business Report understands that the bid by FosRich, if successful, will be executed with Phillips Lighting. Phillips is the holder of the smart LED technology being used by JPS, while FosRich is its local distributor.

FosRich along with Phillips were successful in the previous three bids, supplying more than 75,000 smart LED lamps for the project. FosRich, which is involved in the distribution of lighting, electrical and solar energy products was paid in the region of US$15 million for the supply of smart LED lamps during phases 1 and 2 of the project. We were unable to confirm how much the company was paid to supply LED lamps during the third phase, which was rolled out last year.

It is anticipated that in the fourth phase, which is the largest, upwards of 70,000 street lights will be changed out to smart LED lamps. This phase will be rolled out later this year and will continue through to next year.

Speaking with The Business Observer last year, Foster described the National Street Lighting Replacement Project as “a great programme because the Government is saving a lot of money changing out from HID lamps to the energy-saving smart LED lamps, which saves you up to 80 per cent of consumption, so as you can see the Government has been able to pay JPS because they are reaping the benefits of using the LED technology”.