10 March 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Opening
Lines
Japan Partners with St. Kitts and Nevis
in Renewable Energy
Officials from Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) have signed documents with the St.
Kitts and Nevis government to begin technical coop-
eration in the area of renewable energy and energy
efficiency.
At the signing ceremony on Wednesday, Ian ‘Patch-
es’ Liburd, minister of public infrastructure, posts,
urban development and transport, said that Japan
has committed to assist the region in addressing its
energy concerns in light of the reality that St Kitts
and Nevis, like most other Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) countries, is highly dependent on im-
ported fossil fuel as its primary energy resource.
The minister highlighted that the high price of fossil
fuels has impacted the country’s economic devel-
opment through increasing the cost of living for its
citizens. He said that JICA conducted a “Data Col-
lection Survey on Renewable Energy and Energy Ef-
ficiency” for twelve countries of CARICOM includ-
ing St. Kitts and Nevis from August 2014 to February
2015, in order to study the needs in energy sector in
these countries. Based on the results of the survey,
a technical cooperation project to promote energy
efficiency between the CARICOM island countries
