Going green in The Bahamas?

by Rick Lowe (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

Enough talk about going green in The Bahamas, I've got a proposal for the Government.

Buy $1.5 million of Fluorescent light bulbs from me to distribute to the poor.

Then hire me as a consultant, at say $100,000 a year to determine who to give them to.

Now we'll be sure not to do anything ugly like the alleged scam in Jamaica where a Cabinet Minister was fired.

By now I'm sure you realise I'm being cynical and talking about The Tribune Business story on Friday past  chronicling an interview with Mr. Phenton Neymour, the Minister of State for the Environment in The Bahamas.

It takes years to approve an LNG project, or a recycling of cooking oil investment etc, and you're hiring a consultant to give light bulbs away? I can locate poor people to distribute light bulbs to.

However, there seems to be more to come form the consultants regarding energy efficiency in low cost homes to be built by the Government and technical expertise "to determine which renewable energy process is applicable to the locations and facilities BEC has in place..."

I understand there is a $750,000 grant from the IDB to make this all happen.

For some reason I have an awkward feeling about the way it will all turn out.