Frank
talks at energy conference
By Sherwin Long
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
09 17 06
With
his recent criticism of the US’s negligent
foreign policy towards the Caribbean region, Prime
Minister Patrick Manning may have started a trend
of Caribbean politicians and political advisers
going for the throats of some of their more powerful
allies.
This
was evident last Friday at the final day of the
conference on Energy and the Competitiveness of
the Caribbean held at the Hilton Trinidad.
Funding
for sustainable energy and pollution prevention
programmes from the European Union and the United
Nations came into question.
Anthony
Smallwood, first counsellor and charge d’affaires
of the European Union’s (EU) delegation to
T&T, started a heated discussion when he complained
about the laissez faire attitude of Caribbean countries
towards securing funding.
He
was referring specifically to the ACP-EU Energy
Facility fund which is set up to increase access
to energy services for the poor in Asia, the Pacific
region and the Caribbean.
Smallwood
said Euro$220 million was set aside for this fund
which was heavily advertised in the Caribbean region.
The
EU was deeply disappointed about the lack of applications
and proposals put forward, he added.
Barbados’
Energy and Public Utilities Minister Elizabeth Thompson
was reticent towards Smallwood’s claims.
She
said there is a tremendous disconnect between what
is preached at these forums and what actually takes
place.
She
said conference discussions were wonderfully titillating
but the Caribbean had to see tangible benefits from
such efforts.
“Barbados
is having a very difficult time with the EU giving
support to our bio-fuel project and the fuel cane
(project) we are seeking to establish,” Thompson
said.
Smallwood
replied that the EU had an obligation to point out
weaknesses of some projects but also extended an
olive branch and said he agreed with Thompson that
the process should be quicker.
Dr
Roland Clarke, a senior Caricom adviser, stopped
just short of calling Smallwood an outright liar.
He
said after a visit by EU officials the Caricom secretariat
had submitted several proposals for the energy facility
a year and a half ago, but there was no response
from the EU.
Clarke
explained that when Caricom submitted the proposal,
the EU had not set up the internal management procedures
to administer the programme.
And
now the Caribbean finds itself behind Africa, Asia
and the Pacific for funding from the energy facility,
he added.
“Having
been first in line to submit a proposal a year and
a half ago, now being told (we are) holding up the
process, sir, you are being quite disingenuous and
you are giving our colleagues here an impression
which is absolutely and totally not true. I assert
that I reject the notions you present,” Clarke
countered.
Smallwood
said he was “deeply chastened” by Clarke’s
remark and called for a private meeting after the
conference with Caricom representatives to discuss
the matter.
The
deadline for applying for funding is October 6 and
Smallwood assured there would be less stress on
procedure and more stress on the ideas presented.
He
explained that the three major areas of focus for
the energy facility was access for rural areas,
energy management and energy governance, energy
and cross border co-operation.
Smallwood
noted that in T&T there was a rural electrification
project which was not moving.
Apart
from the energy fund, he also revealed there was
also Euro$1.5 million available for renewable energy
projects.
But
Smallwood pointed to the same problem.
“At
the moment it is unspent and uncommitted because
we are waiting for feedback from Caricom/Cariforum
required to update the financing proposal,”
he said.
In
defence of the EU’s assessment of Caribbean
proposals, Smallwood cross-referenced an EU water
facility fund for bringing water to the poor.
“We
had 11 proposals from T&T alone and only one
project from the Caribbean was provisionally accepted.
So surprise, surprise when a second call came around
interest was considerably less,” he added.
However,
as far as accessing funding, Thompson said more
attention was being paid to the least developing
countries in Africa and small island developing
states were suffering.
She
said only Haiti would qualify for funding in the
region under the majority of EU programmes.
She
clamoured for recognition of the advances being
made in the Caribbean.
In
summing up current attention being paid to the Caribbean
region, Thompson leaned more towards doom and gloom.
“It
is clear to me that the Caribbean is going to face
socioeconomic disaster if we are continuously being
marginalised.”
Funding
available
Apart
from the European Union’s Energy Facility
Grant, the United Nations Development Programme’s
Global Environment Facility (GEF) is also being
positioned as an untapped source of money for Caribbean
environmental protection.
Oliver
Page, climate change focal point adviser for the
GEF’s regional office, said over the next
four years the fund will have over US$3.1 billion.
He
said US$960 million will be concentrated on climate
change from 2006 to 2010.
The
GEF is to reduce green house gas emissions and in
the Caribbean region each country can access up
to US$2.5 million as a maximum with US$1 million
as the minimum figure.
Page
confirmed that T&T had not accessed its US$1
million.
However
Richard Laydoo, national co-ordinator of the GEF’s
small grants programme said T&T had accessed
the fund in the past.
In
Latin America, UNDP has invested over US$200 million
in renewable energy projects but the Caribbean was
behind, Page said.
“Financing
is available it is finding the right projects and
structuring the good deals and building essential
capacities to develop renewable energy projects,”
Page said.
But
Thompson once again raised her concern regarding
the Caribbean’s access to the fund.
She
said Barbados was a world leader in solar water
heating and had the most coverage and greatest success
after Israel.
Thompson
questioned how GEF’s solar water heating project
could be headquartered in France when Barbados is
an industry leader.
“Where
a country has exhibited the kind of leadership that
Barbados has had where we have the kind of success
with solar water heating production application,
installation and exportation it seems Barbados is
a perfect candidate rather than France or as an
addition to France,” she said.
Page
said he was not familiar with Barbados’ solar
water heating expertise but he would take Thompson’s
comments to GEF’s leadership.
The
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday 14th September 2006
Copyright
©2006 The Trinidad Guardian. All Rights Reserved.
