KINGSTON, Jamaica— Energy Minister Daryl Vaz responded to what he said were misinformation and propaganda being disseminated by the People’s National Party (PNP) as it relates to the country’s current standing in the use of renewable energy and its 2014 ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index.

Vaz made the accusation during a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) press conference held at the party’s Belmont Road headquarters on Friday.

The energy minister rejected the PNP’s assertions that Jamaica was the highest-ranked Caribbean country on the Ease of Doing Business Index in 2014, when the Portia Simpson-led PNP administration was in charge of the Government.

Vaz rebutted, saying Jamaica was ranked 94th overall and was 10 places behind other Caribbean countries but, under the Andrew Holness-led administration, he said the country now tops the region at 27th.

“Firstly, in 2014, Jamaica was not the highest-ranked country in the Caribbean for the Doing Business Index done by the World Bank. These statements made by the opposition’s leader are false and are an attempt to rewrite history.”

“The World Bank report is available online and gives evidence that Jamaica was ranked 94th in the world in 2014 and was ranked behind 10 other countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, including St Lucia, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua, and Barbuda,” Vaz said.

As it relates to energy usage, Vaz highlighted Jamaica’s increased use of renewable energy since the JLP formed the country’s government, in comparison to the 2012-2016 period when the PNP was in power.

“As of 2022, 11.8 per cent of our energy mix is from renewables as published in the NSET 2023 National Energy Balance Report. This is compared to the average eight per cent during the 2012 to 2016 period. The opposition was unable to surpass eight per cent during their administration,” Vaz said.

“In his statement on Tuesday, the Opposition spokesperson stated that by 2016, 60 per cent of electricity was generated from LNG and about 20 per cent from renewables. This is simply not true. LNG was introduced to the Jamaican energy mix in 2016 and there’s no way on earth then that Paulwell could be claiming that Jamaica achieved 60 per cent of electricity from LNG in 2016,” the energy minister said in his remarks.

Vaz accused the PNP of not being truthful, while urging Jamaicans to be mindful and resist misinformation.

“The habit of the PNP to peddle lies and propaganda must end and the people of Jamaica must resist their misinformation, disinformation and downright lies,” Vaz said.