The State of the Caribbean’s Maritime Industry

THE STAR Businessweek APRIL 13, 2019

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in this edition of

Looking Out to Sea:

The State of the Caribbean’s Maritime Industry

By ED Kennedy, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

The Caribbean’s story will always be one of land and water. The waterways help define the culture, events and day-to-day business activity just as much as the land. But while the history of each nation in our region is well known, many people are yet to encounter the amazing story of its waterways and operations. With the Caribbean seeing a variety of new developments in this space — from the positives of a new cruise ship port in Vieux Fort to the concerns of rising piracy — it’s a fitting time to look at the past, present and future of regional waters.

SBW THE STAR Businessweek

The Caribbean’s Transportation Problem A competitive transportation network isn’t just good for citizens wanting to visit family and friends throughout the region or play tourist in their own backyard, it’s also vital for business and economic prosperity.

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Continued on page 4

Modern Piracy in the Caribbean It’s no secret that the Caribbean has an extensive history of piracy.

Many factors account for this but key among them has always been the essentially seafaring nature of the region and its daily life. Where there are people, there is crime; and where there are expansive waterways, there tend to be pirates.

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The STAR Businessweek

BY Christian Wayne – Editor at Large

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oday’s Businessweek is focused on what is likely the Caribbean’s most precious natural resource — the ocean.

A catchy title for what is hardly a new topic, the ‘blue economy’ is a buzz phrase that has crept into the lexicon of economists over the past few years; a subtopic with a special relevance to small island developing states such as those within our region.

The ‘blue economy’ concept seeks to evaluate the economic importance of the ocean and advocates for more responsible management of our ‘blue resources’ such as sustainable fishing and its relation to food security, or marine pollution and its impact on climate change and tourism. In 2017, we published our first thoughts on the ‘blue economy’ in an article entitled “Ocean

islands in the region also control maritime zones that are many times larger than the dry lands their citizens inhabit. For hundreds of years, the Caribbean’s claim to fame — and our only real source of power and influence — has been our strategic geographic position as floating rocks amidst a highly-trafficked maritime highway that crisscrosses the Caribbean Sea. Earning this week’s cover rights is “Looking Out to Sea: The State of the Caribbean’s Maritime Industry” which gives readers a hard and fast overview of what the region’s maritime industry looks like. Readers should then follow up that article with “The Caribbean’s Transportation Problem” on page 3 for an unfiltered look at some of the main issues that have continued to hamper the

Caribbean Sea ship traffic density map (source: www.shiptraffic.net)

Wealth vs Ocean Health: Diving into the Blue Economy” which readers can peruse by visiting www.issuu.com/ starbusinessweek or www.stluciastar. com/businessweek. That foray focused mainly on the economic impacts of ocean pollution and its negative effects on major Caribbean industries like tourism. For today’s musings, however, we are looking at more industrialized uses of the ocean as seen through maritime-based trade.

The nations of the Caribbean may be physically tiny when judged by their respective landmasses, but many

growth of commercial shipping and transportation within our region.

Finally, check out “Modern Piracy in the Caribbean” for insights into the perennial problem of piracy on the high seas and how modern-day buccaneers have continued to plague the region since the days of the Jolly Roger in the 1500s.

It’s Nothing Personal. It’s Business.

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Logistics

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The Caribbean’s Transportation Problem

Island-hopping is no easy matter in the Caribbean. Try booking a ferry and the routes are non-existent; try arranging a flight and it’ll take its toll on your wallet. Linkages between Caribbean states are anything but user-friendly.

By Catherine Morris, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

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competitive transportation network isn’t just good for citizens wanting to visit family and friends throughout the region or play tourist in their own backyard, it’s also vital for business and economic prosperity. But good routes require substantial investment and this has long been the sticking point in a region where existing operators are already over-stretched, governments have little to spare and overseas investors are wary of taking on the financial risk.

discussed were the cost of a fast ferry versus slower vessels and security concerns given the Caribbean’s high crime levels. The meeting also created a joint private and public sector body to review the current situation and make recommendations. The committee’s work will include drawing up estimates on cost following discussions with operators.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Dr Harris said: “We discussed the possibilities and various options going forward vis-a-vis private sector engagement in the transportation sector. We are committed to delivering a competitive transportation industry to the region and to ensure that the transportation would be affordable.

“We are now looking at some considerations as to what is the best model, and it is not just a question of buying a ship; how will they sustain themselves? You have to address all the logistics and other issues pertinent to finding the model that would be self-financing or at the very least not create a fiscal problem for those contributing to them.”

Airline issues

In recent months, Antigua-based carrier LIAT has become the poster child for airline woes. The cash-strapped provider, which services 15 destinations across the Caribbean, is struggling to maintain operations in the face of mounting debt, operational losses and poor sales due to rising ticket prices. In an effort to balance its books, LIAT has asked several of its hubs for Minimal Revenue Guarantee deals and also called on its four major stakeholder governments in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines to contribute to a US$ 5.4mn emergency bail-out. For its part, Saint Lucia has so far been reticent to fund LIAT’s recovery, with the government saying any investment would be conditional on a restructuring of the company and that there needs to be more competition in the market.

Prime Minister Chastanet warned stakeholders: “If LIAT remains the same, Saint Lucia will not participate, but if there are these fundamental changes then we would be very happy to do that. Saint Lucia clearly believes there need to be open skies. We think there are other players in the region that are prepared to step in to service some routes.”

It remains to be seen whether LIAT will be able to stay in the sky but, even if it manages to avoid the threat of dissolution, the airline serves as a cautionary tale for other providers facing the same concerns. Government subsidies may have propped up LIAT while the airline continued its lossmaking routes but capital subsidies are a short-term solution that ignore deeper issues such as the uneven relationship between international carriers and destinations.

Last month, regional leaders met to sign the CARICOM Multilateral Air

Pilots of regional airline LIAT have agreed to a less than 10 per cent cut in salary in a bid to keep the airline alive

Services Agreement. Designed to level the playing field for CARICOM-owned airlines, the agreement removes restrictions on routes, capacity and traffic rights and, according to CARICOM, will pave the way for increased intra-regional travel and more cargo options for both exporters and importers.

CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis Dr Timothy Harris struck a cautious note, however, urging citizens to manage their expectations and pointing out that LIAT’s problems are not new to the region. He said: “We have to be careful that our expectations are reasonable.

It is well known that for a very long time air transportation within the Caribbean has had its share of problems. And we have had different airlines; whether it’s LIAT, BWIA or others, they’ve gone through their own periods of restructuring and adjustment.

“There is, within the region, a strong commitment to finding an affordable and efficient means of transportation that supports our integration efforts and that continues to be a work in progress because some of the issues are very deep, very structural and require a thoughtful approach.”

Travelling by sea

Millions of tourists descend upon the Caribbean by air every year but, for locals and businesses, the water can offer a

Poor transportation impacts every aspect of Caribbean life. Without well-maintained and affordable routes, agricultural producers cannot make a dent on the region’s soaring food import bill cheaper way to connect. The islands have various shipping routes but passenger ferries have typically been neglected and travelling by sea is still not a viable option for many. Plans for a regional ferry service have been debated and discussed for over a decade with minimal progress but have now come under scrutiny again as LIAT’s predicament forces Caribbean leaders to examine affordable alternatives to airlift.

CARICOM Heads of Government attended a two-day Intersessional Meeting in St Kitts and Nevis in March, during which they examined the possibility of a regional ferry service. Among the issues

Key to growth

Poor transportation impacts every aspect of Caribbean life. Without well-maintained and affordable routes, agricultural producers cannot make a dent on the region’s soaring food import bill. High fees dissuade visitors from travelling throughout the islands and spending their tourist dollars. Lack of transport to other destinations limits people’s access to educational opportunities and jobs. In short, the ability to get around is directly linked to all the conventional markers of economic progress.

Both ferry and air services have a part to play. The LIAT debacle has shown how dangerous dependence on air transportation alone can be, but there’s been slow progress in establishing ferry routes with concerns over the high level of subsidies that would be needed to make them financially sustainable. In 2012 Trinidad and Tobago announced that a Barbados-based consortium would operate a fast ferry service through the Eastern Caribbean with stops including Saint Lucia but the routes were never realised. Again, in 2014, Grenada floated the idea of a southern Caribbean service with an initial investment of around US$ 5mn needed to get it up and running.

This, too, failed to come to fruition. With ferries in the spotlight again, optimistic stakeholders are carefully watching the latest discussions hoping for SBW solid progress this time around.

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Looking Out to Sea: The State of the Caribbean’s Maritime Industry Continued from page 1

but historically this was not always so.

Throughout major conflicts, including World War I and the American Revolutionary War, efforts to blockade and cut out a rival’s access to other nations was pursued. Today we’re seeing similar tensions in Asia as China seeks to expand its territorial claim to waters. Ultimately, territorial squabbles in Asia are unlikely to have a direct bearing on Caribbean waters any time soon, but the activities of the Chinese government in this region will.

Alongside the construction of critical infrastructure on land, like highways in Jamaica, Beijing’s fingerprints on port works in Suriname’s capital of Paramaribo, and in Freeport in the Bahamas, have been met with unease by anyone who considers the question: For all the money it’s injecting into the region, what does China want from the Caribbean family?

Whatever the future holds, the lessons of history here are vivid, and reflect a trend we are seeing widely in international politics. Just because an issue has been dead or dormant for many decades, doesn’t mean it can’t come roaring back. Alongside the Chinese government’s activities, the Venezuela and Guyana territorial dispute is a key example of this, one that many continue to watch nervously given the present unpredictability in Caracas.

Progress at What Price?

The Panama Canal, opened in 1914, has been a keystone of both global trade and Panama’s economy. In 2014 the canal earned US$ 2.6bn, about 5% of Panama’s GDP

The Caribbean’s Waterways at a Glance

Caribbean waters are a hub of activity, utilised daily by cruise liners, fisheries and commercial ships as well as recreational boaters, fishers and light seacraft like jet skis.

As an area of island states, the sea and the efficient use of it are vital to ongoing prosperity and progress, especially given that the majority of goods arrive via importation. Though the advent of airplanes has changed this dynamic, even today over 90 per cent of goods imported to the region arrives by ship. The high cost of transport — commonly around three times as high to transport when compared to other regions — means those who utilise regional waterways have always had to contend with a higher expense of doing so.

The upgrading of port infrastructure, dredging of harbours, and improvement of shipping and logistics processes are all key components of addressing this imbalance, and have been pursued alongside great progress in maritime growth.

The Ebbs and Flows of the Region

Owing to its history since European settlement, the Caribbean was always set to be a complex network of shipping routes and logistical operations. This continues to be seen today. The relative youth of Caribbean nations compared to old and historic nations

throughout the Americas means the capacity for growth and improvement of efficiencies remains real, despite the history of red tape and high expense.

The Port of Kingston’s ascent in this space has been a regional success story. The sheer size of Latin America’s biggest nations, like Brazil and Mexico, ensures that their respective ports of Santos and Manzanillo will long be among the upper echelons of commercial shipping activity in the region.

Yet the Port of Kingston’s overtake of the Port of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2014 to become the seventh biggest in the region has been complemented by the performance of Freeport in the Bahamas and Caucedo in the Dominican Republic as regional shipping epicentres.

Given the proximity of all Caribbean nations to Panama’s ports of Balboa and Colon — in 2016 ranked Latin America’s 2nd and 3rd biggest by activity and shipping respectively, at 2.9 and 2.3 million units per year — the region is beginning to reap immense dividends due to its positioning as ‘the gateway to the West’, via the Panama Canal, for booming Asian economies.

And alongside the progress of ports as a whole, tides have turned swiftly around individual businesses. Recent months have seen Global Ports — the largest global cruise port operator — strike a 30-year deal with Antigua and Barbuda, and a 25-year deal with the Port of

Nassau in the Bahamas, promising in both instances to upgrade not only existing port infrastructure, but the surrounding vicinity, providing new retail and entertainment offerings throughout.

While there are many positives here, there are also storm clouds gathering around the future of Caribbean ports and waterways.

Keeping Sea Lanes of Communication Open

Since the end of World War II, international waters have, by and large, been open,

While having free-flowing sea lanes is advantageous most of the time, it can sometimes be an issue. The difficulty of combatting the drug trade in the region illustrates this. So too, the ongoing struggle for the international community to deal with global issues: from ships that illegally pollute, to jurisdiction-evasive crimes that occur in international waters, to the impact of climate change.

These particular issues don’t require a reunification of the longstanding tradition of free movement across the seas, but they do require in-depth consideration over the fact that the principles that have been applied to free use of the oceans largely pre-date the rise of our current era of borderless economic trade.

Seeking Safe Harbour

The upgrading of port infrastructure, dredging of harbours, and improvement of shipping and logistics processes are all key components of addressing this imbalance, and have been pursued alongside great progress in maritime growth

An examination of the Caribbean’s maritime highways today reveals a region in transition. In some measures, the future of Caribbean nations in their waterways is bright. Here in Saint Lucia, annual increases in tourism, and major capital works projects that are underway, point to increasing efficiency and optimisation of operations on the water. But even allowing for the progress seen in this nation and elsewhere, there remain significant issues with expense and inefficiency.

These problems won’t be resolved overnight, but pursuing more effective remedies to them cannot wait forever.

Even if the region’s future growth is largely clear sailing now, tides can turn unexpectedly.

CRIME

The star businessweek

Modern Piracy in the Caribbean

By ED Kennedy, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

most pirated region in the world and where around 35 per cent of all crude oil and 33% of natural gas is transported — pirates are likely to target the cash that the crew may hold for currency conversions from port to port, and this can be sizeable.

WIthin the Caribbean it can be a different calculation but the stakes remain high for victims. While every raid has variables, recent crises have changed the calculation of what a modern pirate is defined as, and what they seek.

Turning Tides

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The threat of maritime piracy has mushroomed enormously in the past few years.

The news channels on a daily basis have a new incident to report about pirates attacking a crew and looting the vessel, or hijacking a ship and even causing harm to the crew when their ransom demands are not met by the authorities

t’s no secret that the Caribbean has an extensive history of piracy. Many factors account for this but key among them has always been the essentially seafaring nature of the region and its daily life. Where there are people, there is crime; and where there are expansive waterways, there tend to be pirates.

History and Reality

From the 1500s to the early 1800s, as the New World was discovered and settled by Europeans, piracy was in its ‘golden era’, before naval campaigns clamped down on its activity. In pop culture, this era has been traded on through generations with stories of swashbucklers and rebels, and more recently with films like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. While these titles may be good fun and fodder, the reality of pirating has always been different.

As opposed to Robin Hood-esque characters and romanticized rebels, piracy has regularly involved a readiness to be indiscriminate when it comes to those under attack. Not only have the ships of kings and dukes been robbed, but also the boats of poor fishermen

and travellers, for possessions that were meagre to pirates but crucial to the livelihood of their victims.

Modern Piracy

Modern pirates aren’t typically spending months and years at sea, or hoisting the Jolly Roger. Modern pirates are usually shore-based, preferring brief and single raids over long attacks. In the place of a fearsome flag on a lonely ship on the horizon, are criminals who make use of modern technology and combat techniques.

Modern-day pirates utilise GPS, satellite phones and even the acquisition of shipping schedules as a means to plan an attack. Just the same, techniques pioneered generations ago remain in vogue. Typically boarding the ships astern and at night, a successful raid can be described as one that gets the pirates aboard before anyone has the chance to raise the alarm. Once on board, the location of the ship around the world can become critical to what the pirates seek.

In recent times, the focus of piracy has been off the continent of Africa. If a ship is sailing through the Strait of Hormuz — among the

The instability in Venezuela and the knockon effect in neighbouring nations isn’t confined to land. As a result of the upheaval, the waterways surrounding Venezuela have become a de facto battleground; one where civilian fishermen from Trinidad are being forced to pursue their livelihoods fearfully in the same waters as pirates, allegedly backed by the drug trafficking gangs of San Juan de Unare and San Juan de las Galdonas.

Any rise in crime within the region isn’t just a matter of adding a few percentage points to annual statistics. Today’s pirates are in the business of stealing throughout the Caribbean, and also endangering life. Stories arise weekly of pirates robbing fishermen of all their goods, and then disabling their boats so they’re unable to make it back to shore without assistance.

Horrifically, history shows that some poor souls have paid the ultimate price. The murder of Roger Pratt in Saint Lucia in 2014, while he and his wife were on their boat when it was moored at Vieux Fort, shows that the threat to seafarers is not just when they sail out onto the open sea, but while still in port.

This new chapter comes alongside the ongoing existence of drug runners and smugglers throughout Latin America. Like the golden age of piracy, the prominence of drug cartels, like the Pablo Escobar-led Medellín Cartel, has faded from contemporary focus.

However, the utilisation of the Caribbean Sea as a route for drug running has never disappeared.

As recently as 2018 the US Coast Guard was seizing record amounts of cocaine.

Anyone who watched Netflix’s blockbuster

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Narcos, marvelling ‘how things were back then’, must recognise that not only is business still booming for drug smugglers, but the geopolitical instability, that’s seen more pirates set sail, has created a more dangerous arena for all.

The Other Side of the Coin

Some modern pirates are acting out of desperation. Operating out of poor communities, with little employment on offer, they realize that a single raid on the right ship could provide for their family for months.

Piracy is unquestionably a scourge but those seeking to combat it by making caricatures of its proponents, do a disservice to efforts against it.

And as opposed to a focus on punishing the criminals alone, evidence suggests that part of the blame for its continuation rests with governments and maritime authorities.

Many ships’ crews have been resistant to reporting a raid because of all the red tape it causes, and the rarity of the perpetrators being apprehended. If there’s any hope of this changing, governments need to make reporting processes easier, and show that real legwork and outcomes will occur once a report is made.

In the meantime, many large ships now utilise a variety of Anti-Boarding Devices (ABDs) to defend the vessel, crew and cargo, just as pirates use technology to attack. Systems for ensuring that ships sail safely from A to B range from rudimentary countermeasures, like barbed wire fences and use of fire hoses for blasting any suspicious small boat that sails too close, to high-tech laser and acoustic solutions. As well as ABDs, dedicated security teams as a first line of defence are now commonplace onboard ships.

Bracing Against the Threat

‘Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.’ Pirates have always been romanticised, and the Caribbean is a cultural epicentre for these figures. But beyond the myths and legends reside two cold, hard facts: piracy has always been a plague on the Caribbean family, and it has recently made a strong comeback in these waters.

However one looks at it, piracy benefits only the pirates. All who use Caribbean waters in peace and prosperity have an interest in seeing it combatted.

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Dubai-based firm implicated in immigration fraud gets banned St Kitts and Nevis CIU snaps ties with company over allegations of fraud

By Mazhar Farooqui

Around 2,000 applications are received annually for Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship which offers visa-free travel to over 130 countries

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ubai, UAE — A Dubaibased immigration firm has been terminated by Saint Kitts and Nevis as its registered International Marketing Agent (IMA) and can no longer submit applications to the Caribbean nation’s much sought after Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme.

In a notice circulated on March 20, the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Saint Kitts and Nevis advised stakeholders that the Dubai-based firm in question is no longer a registered IMA and is not authorised to submit files under its residency programme.

The Citizenship by Investment Unit also warned that “effective immediately” it will not process any new file originating from the firm and any service provider submitting files from the entity could have their licence suspended.

The notice comes more than a month after a Gulf News Special Report on how some immigration agents in Dubai were circumventing legal requirements or forging documents to process the citizenship applications of Saint Kitts and Nevis at way-below governmentsanctioned rates, depriving the government of valuable foreign currency.

The February 10 Gulf News story also reported on a probe against the Dubaibased firm for allegedly forging a Saint Kitts and Nevis government letter. The Saint Kitts and Nevis-based citizenship firm to whom the letter was addressed, earlier told Gulf News that “it was not involved in any way” with the altering of the government-issued approval letter.

The president of the citizenship firm said they received an approval letter (dated October 15, 2018) for their client from CIU and forwarded the same to a Dubai-based immigration firm but in midNovember they found out that the letter had been altered from its original form.

Subsequently, the citizenship firm snapped ties with the Dubai-based company and wrote to the CIU calling for an urgent investigation to identity the party or parties involved in the apparent forgery.

However, the Dubai-based firm said they are not aware if they are facing any investigation in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The company also hinted at legal action against the CIU. In an email to Gulf News, the company said it is no longer carrying out new business with Saint Kitts and Nevis, having not renewed its licence at the start of this year.

“The firm is, for the time being, focusing on other jurisdictions for its clients across the globe. The statement issued by the Citizenship by Investment Unit on 20 March 2019 is both disappointing and surprising,” the Dubai-based firm said, adding that they are consulting with lawyers as to the appropriate next steps.

However, it did not comment on a Gulf News query about allegations of forgery.

Around 2,000 applications are received annually for Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship which offers visa-free travel to over 130 countries. Many of these applicants are from GCC countries.

Kuwait writes off US$ 50.7MN debt of Guyana

Guyana’s Prime Minister Moses V. Nagamootoo

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Bilateral Debt Settlement Agreement was signed by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, on March 18, 2019, with the State of Kuwait, through the Kuwait Investment Authority, to cancel US$ 50,739,255.67 of Guyana’s debt to that country.

In a statement the Ministry of Finance said the debt cancellation will reduce Guyana’s external debt and allow the country to expand its development agenda, as funds saved under this agreement would be allocated to social projects within the context of the National Budget.

The agreement, which came after an ardent negotiation process, paves the way for greater co-operation and the strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries.

Commenting on the agreement, Minister Jordan said that it came about as a result of renewed efforts by his ministry to engage Guyana’s non-Paris Club bilateral creditors in negotiating debt relief that is acceptable and sustainable.

The remaining amount of US$ 26,853,585.23 will be settled through a combination of cash payments, to be made over nine years, and a debt swap arrangement, which will be worked out in due course.

Guyana’s debt to Kuwait originated from a Loan Deposit, contracted in 1975, from the Central Bank of Kuwait for Kuwaiti Dinars 3mn (US$ 10.3mn at that time), for balance of payments support to the Bank of Guyana. The debt accumulated massive arrears over the past four decades, at high market interest rates. As at December 31, 2017, the debt to Kuwait had grown to US$ 77,592,840.90, comprising principal arrears of US$ 9,940,500 and interest arrears of US$ 67,652,340.90.

Since assuming office in 2015, the Finance Minister has pursued debt relief from other bilateral non-Paris Club creditors with whom Guyana’s debts are in arrears.

Originally published in the Guyana Chronicle

ENERGY

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CCREEE Takes on Energy Challenges

By Catherine Morris, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

Island-hopping is no easy matter in the Caribbean. Try booking a ferry and the routes are non-existent; try arranging a flight and it’ll take its toll on your wallet. Linkages between Caribbean states are anything but user-friendly.

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udging by his extensive experience, Dr Gary Jackson is the perfect man to tackle the problem. Having worked as an academic, engineer and entrepreneur in the energy sector for over two decades, Jackson has a unique insight into both the problems and potential of this rapidly evolving space.

Six months into his new role as head of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), Dr Jackson has hit the ground running, guiding the organisation as it works to educate the public, support bankable energy development projects and enable access to energy across the region. “I want to see people improve their lives through the work that we do,” says the native Jamaican, a former lecturer at the University of the West Indies and founder of the Caribbean Energy Solution Research Institute. “I want to understand how things work and ask the right questions so I can inform others.

There is a lack of information on both the public and the private sides. Once we have the information we can have the right discussions.

“We need the right framework and the right policies. We need to build capacity and start producing. We cannot keep being countries that import fuel and do not do anything ourselves. The way to do that is through teamwork. CCREEE is going to be interfacing with all sectors of society the public, the private, the man on the street. We are focusing on the people of this region.”

Barriers to growth

CCREEE was first established by CARICOM in 2015 and formally ratified in April 2018. Based in Barbados, it aims to transform energy provision in the Caribbean. But to get there, the team must first tackle the many obstacles that have so far stymied progress. High energy costs, environmentally-harmful

And this environment can only be created in an atmosphere in which participants are willing, and well-informed. Dr Jackson says the conversation around energy has been limited in the past, but is going more mainstream as costs rise and people become more aware of the need to make changes, starting in their homes. “Energy has never been sexy,” he says. “People run up phone bills but they don’t complain in the same way because a phone has its apps and can do all these things for them. Energy is seen as just a means to an end. It is changing though. People look at cost and, at the end of the day, the bill is always the factor that makes people think about how they use energy. They now want to change how they operate their households.”

Personal responsibility is a key element in solving the Caribbean’s energy woes, but it’s not the only part of the puzzle. Governments and the private sector also have a part to play as the region’s national grids struggle to keep up with demand.

Realistic renewables

Dr Gary Jackson, CCREEE Executive Director.

He formerly served as Executive Director of CARILEC before assuming his new role with CCREEE.

practices, unreliable provision of services and a lack of industry innovation have all contributed to minimal growth and progress in the sector. But change is on the horizon.

By 2027, the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy wants 47 per cent of the region’s total electricity generation to come from renewable sources. It’s an optimistic target, but one that is within reach according to Dr Jackson who says: “That target is ambitious given where we are today but I believe that once you have the will, you can get it done. It will take a strong and aggressive effort. We need to make sure we have a fair, transparent and all-inclusive enabling environment in place.”

Governments across the Caribbean have been paying lip service to renewable energy generation for decades, but new technologies and intensified climate concerns are putting pressure on leaders to turn words into action.

Dr Jackson is happy to see the shift and notes that a lack of information, will and resources have held back uptake of renewables which are now coming to the forefront. “I am optimistic. If the Caribbean has the will to change, it will happen. We cannot just say it, we have to do it. We could be further ahead than we are, but we need to demonstrate leadership.”

The three renewables with the most promise are solar, wind and geothermal, according to Dr Jackson who cautions that a single source will not sustain the Caribbean’s energy needs but rather a diversified approach is needed.

“Renewables will replace conventional fossil fuel but we need to see how to get that transition done. One renewable energy cannot change the energy landscape of a country. It will take collaboration between technologies and collaboration between people.”

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Saint Lucia is putting this into practice with a focus on both solar and geothermal power. With the government pledging to use renewable sources for 35 per cent of all its energy needs by 2020, LUCELEC and partners broke ground on a US$ 20mn solar farm in September 2017.

In addition, the government completed an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for potential geothermal energy exploration in Soufriere last year. In this regard, Saint Lucia is playing catch-up with Dominica which recently received millions in international development financing to construct a 7MW geothermal power plant.

“Most of the Eastern Caribbean has the potential for geothermal,” says Dr Jackson. “If exploited properly, that resource is sustainable and will be a major game-changer.”

Other future game-changers include tidal power and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) which uses the difference in temperature between deep and shallow water to generate electricity.

“Those are very new in terms of their scale and replicability but we should not discount them,” says Dr Jackson. “We should look at how they can be exploited, how we can use them effectively and how they can be part of the solution.”

An energetic future

There is no solution without the next generation, according to Dr Jackson who is heavily inspired by his teacher mother who passed away at the end of last year.

Continuing her legacy of educating and engaging young people, Dr Jackson wants to make schoolchildren a fundamental part of CCREEE’s mission and says: “There is going to be a lot of transformation in the future. We are arriving at a turning point where things are going to move a lot faster than they have been.

“When you look at the kids and what they are doing, you realise they have the potential to drive this transformation.

They are going to be the force to be reckoned with. It’s not about us. It’s about the generation following us. We should give them the tools, information and encouragement they need.

“My mother was always proud of me and I always admired how she focused on children in her work. Today I try to remember that. The youth have great ideas and we should listen to them. They have so much to offer and they are SBW a big part of the change to come.”

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REGIONAL

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OECS Inks New MOU to Better Protect Your Ocean Birthright

By DEAN NESTOR, STAR BUSINESSWEEK CORRESPONDENT

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States has signed an MOU with the Regional Security System for the preservation and enhancement of the OECS’s oceanways. Pictured: Dr. Didicus Jules, Director General of the OECS

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he OECS and the Regional Security System (RSS) have signed an MOU to better protect, police and preserve the ocean space in the Eastern Caribbean as the birthright of every Caribbean national.

As the major shared resource between OECS Member States, the ocean plays a vital role, from the air we breathe, transportation and recreation, to food, medicine and economic benefits.

OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules said the ocean was the last frontier of untapped economic growth for the region as a collective of Ocean

The RSS, as a key player in the plan, performs a vital role as the body with regional oversight and capacity to protect the space from overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction

Developing States.

“In recognition, the OECS Commission co-ordinates the implementation of the $6.3mn Caribbean Regional Ocean Policy and Strategic Action Plan (CROP) to ensure the space is managed sustainably to leverage economic opportunities for Member States.

“The RSS, as a key player in the plan, performs a vital role as the body with regional oversight and capacity to protect the space from overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction.

“The Grant Agreement between the RSS and the Caribbean Development Bank, also signed, will support the implementation of some of the plan’s strategic actions.

“This is a good case illustrative of the exponential mathematics of integration and co-operation: one plus one equals 11.

“We also applaud the RSS in their tireless work in promoting co-operation among OECS Member States in the prevention and interdiction of traffic in illegal narcotic drugs, in national emergencies, search and rescue, immigration control, combatting threats to national security, the prevention of smuggling, and in the protection of offshore installations and exclusive economic zones,” said Dr. Jules.

The MOU was signed on behalf of the six independent Member States of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, plus Barbados.

The signing took place on Friday April 5 at the RSS Council of Ministers’ meeting in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

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