Interesting report out of Canada which details that Plasco Energy missed another deadline set by the city of Ottawa to build a waste-to-energy plant. The company entered an agreement in 2011 to “construct a 300-tonne-a-day gasification plant” by 2016 – see report Plasco misses 3rd deadline to find financing for waste plant.
The Barbados government entered a similar agreement with Cahill Energy in March 2014 to build a US$240 million (approximately) gasification plant, projected to provide up to 25% of Barbados’ total energy needs. A press release suggests the proposed Barbados plant will have a capacity of 30 to 35 megawatts.
At a Town Hall meeting in July 2014 which was attended by CEO of Cahill Energy Claire Cowan, interested parties confirmed the Environmental Impact Study sould have been made available to the public pursuant to the Town Planning regulation “in about three weeks” – several months have passed since the promise. At a recent press conference minister Denis Lowe shared little information about the status of the project.
Recently B’s Bottle and Metal Recycling plant received approval from Town Planning department (government) to relocate his business. The length of time the application for approval took to process, and the obvious political hulahoops he and his partners were made to endure, makes a mockery of whether business facilitation is at the required standard to foster entrepreneurship in Barbados.
Now that B’s Recycling is expected to be a key player in the waste disposal sector in a year or two, curious Barbadians are left to ponder how is little Barbados expected to product enough garbage to satisfy the gasification plant. B’s Recycling and the others. If the plant is projected to burn 600 tonnes daily operating on a 24 hour cycle there is immediately a supply side problem. Unfortunately minister Denis Lowe and others in his government feel no obligation to explained the Cahill Energy transaction to taxpayers. At the Town Hall held at Vaucluse the CEO of Cahill Energy deflected several questions to government. So far SILENCE!
As if roused from a deep slumber we have had to endure a lot of Denis Lowe in recent days. Why did the government give the Bynoes so much of the run-around compared to Cost-U-Less – a user of foreign exchange – we are left to guess. Were the Bynoes unwilling to pass a berry under the table we wonder?
Waste disposal is part of government’s big plan to make Barbados energy efficient and all appended to it. Barbadians deserve to be treated with respect by being allowed frequent and content filled communication. So far history will not treat this Stuart led government kindly given its unwillingness to effectively communicate with the electorate it serves.
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