Former Jamaican Premier Helps Broker Ethanol Project for Guyana

Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation news agency website on 18 April

Georgetown, Guyana: Former Jamaican Prime Minister Percival J. Patterson has helped brokered a tripartite deal to build an ethanol plant in Guyana to meet energy demands and push the country’s diversification programme.

“I think because of his current work in Jamaica, he saw the opportunity of getting a firm that is interested in ethanol production to come to Guyana. So we had discussions around those issues and we are going to follow it up”, President Bharrat Jagdeo said of Patterson’s role in the energy deal.

Patterson, who is currently President of Regional and International Consultancy (Heisconsults), met with Jagdeo accompanied by officials of Global Energy Ventures.

Jagdeo said that Patterson played a key role in setting the stage for the investment here by the energy company.

“All of the country knows about his commitment to Caribbean development and even at the level of the Heads of Government was always involved in developmental issues,” he said.

Jagdeo said the venture is a private one and noted that such an undertaking would open endless economic benefits for Guyana.

“This could add a new sector to the economy. It could create thousands of jobs and therefore, we decided this may be an appropriate use of land along the coast and possibly in the intermediate savannahs.

“We have embarked on this project for a quite while now and almost a year-and-a-half we have been having discussions with a number of groups as to whether we will go ahead with an ethanol project,” the President said.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said with world oil prices soaring, utilising alternative energy sources “is no longer an option but an imperative, especially for developing countries”.

Guyana is also exploring other alternative power sources including hydro-power, solar, wind and bio-diesel. Ethanol is a clean-burning fuel produced from renewable crops like corn and sugarcane and its use has long been advocated to curb dependence on foreign oil and reduce emission of damaging gree-house gases into the atmosphere.

It is also used in perfumes, alcoholic beverages, medial wipes and in antibacterial hand sanitising gels as an antiseptic.

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