Vaz bats for electric powered vehicles

Gareth Davis Snr, Gleaner Writer 

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz says his Ministry is pushing for a significant reduction in the import duties on electric vehicles, which he calls alarmingly high.

Vaz, who is also the Member of Parliament for West Portland, was the guest speaker at the installation of an electric vehicle charging port at Total Energies service station at Bryan's Bay in Port Antonio on Wednesday.

He stated that he is hoping that Cabinet will come to a consensus on the issue of the duties when it meets next week.

“As far as the ministry of science, energy, and technology is concerned, we are pushing for a significant reduction in the duties on electric [vehicles],” said Vaz.

“We have been working assiduously with the Ministry of Finance, which deals with the fiscal regime, and we want to encourage the use of electric vehicles. We are hoping that we can finalise and have a full policy announcement roll out by the new fiscal year, and hopefully, if we can speed up the submission, we can have some interim arrangement until the new fiscal year,” he continued.

Vaz stated that the Ministry of Finance has concluded its review and that his Ministry has established an Electric Vehicle Council to oversee the introduction of electric mobility in Jamaica.

“Electric vehicles are the future and with the support of our local and international energy partners, Jamaica will not be left behind. Energy is a great connector and enabler of growth and development. Today, we have made another connection in electrifying Jamaica. Commendations to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company and the strides that have been made in guiding Jamaica into a sustainable energy future,” said Vaz.

According to Vaz, the government is committed to building a modern, sustainable and diversified energy sector.

The installation of the electric vehicle charging port at the service station is the first such undertaking for Portland, which follows on the heels of similar installation in Kingston, Montego Bay in St James and Ocho Rios, St Ann.

Earlier, East Portland MP Ann-Marie Vaz expressed appreciation for what she described as the forward-thinking on the part of JPS, while declaring that there is a definite need to preserve green space in Portland, so as to promote health living.

And President and Chief Executive Officer of JPS, Michel Gantois, echoed his company's commitment to providing affordable energy to Jamaicans and encouraged the use of electrical-powered vehicles, which he noted will help to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of Total Energies (formerly Total Service Station), Christopher Okonmah, spoke about his company's commitment to sustainable development and working towards zero carbon emission by 2030.

He pointed out that Total Energies is investing to move from a hydrocarbon company to a sustainable energy entity.

“We identify Jamaica as one of those countries that we want to lay emphasis on to see how we can make investments in this country for wind and also solar energy,” Okonmah said.

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