REGIONAL OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS ENERGY

Kingston, March 23- State Minister in the Ministry of Energy, Laurie Broderick, is to lead Jamaica's team to Thursday's meeting of energy ministers from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Georgetown, Guyana.

The Jamaican team will take part in the 35th special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which will conduct an overview of the energy situation and trends in CARICOM as well as national and regional responses to global developments.

Regional officials are expected to use the meeting to consider the draft CARICOM Energy Policy, which was developed by a task force comprising representatives of Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

The policy is intended to address issues such as security of energy supplies, energy pricing policy and the impact on relative competitiveness in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and purchasing and transportation arrangements.

"Minister Broderick will be leading a strong team from Jamaica, and will be laying out our energy policy, which deals with renewables, conservation and efficiency," minister of energy James Robertson told The Gleaner yesterday.

"We will also be sharing our plan, which has already been approved by the International Development Bank and other international partners to spend US$90 million on renewables," Robertson added.

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