Warren's Blog

One thing I have come to admire about OUR (pun intended) Energy Minister, is his ability to communicate well and his knowledge of what makes Jamaicans tick. The other thing I admire about him, his ability to get out of trouble, which is why I am about to call him the teflon kid.

Phillip Paulwell is a man on a mission, he intends one day to be the President of the PNP and Prime Minister of Jamaica, but he needs to be careful of the process he uses to get there. Being impatient is a trait many of us have particularly in Jamaica, where everything moves at a snails pace, but when a minister starts to becoming too involved in any process it can lead to lack of faith and trust in the operations of that entity, which is supposed to be free from interference. The end does not always justify the means.

Now let’s explore the 360MW plant a bit and the company called EWI, which by the way I believe is the best company to implement the 360MW project in Jamaica. I just wanted to put that on the table upfront.

What was Phillip Paulwell’s role in getting this company involved in the bidding process and what influence did the minister exert over the independent regulator the OUR.

According to Mr Paulwell, EWI submitted an unsolicited bid, really. How can a company submit an unsolicited bid for a project that was open to competitive tender.

There are very strict guidelines for bidding as it relates to the timeline of submission of the bids. The main reason for this, is transparency and is done to ensure that no party is given an unfair advantage over the others.  Let me explain that in simple terms.

Party A submits a bid for $10 and his bid is submitted on time. The rules governing the bids suggest that the person with the lowest bid will be the one considered to be the most favourable. One person who reviews the bid decides he will make contact with Party B who had an interest but has not yet submitted his bid. He is made aware of party A bid of $10 and submits a late bid of $9.95, which is accepted and is then  declared the “winner”.

While the party who is seeking the services of the bidders will ultimately save money, the fact is the process was tainted as it allowed one person to have a clear advantage over the other and this has the potential to lead to massive corruption  via kickbacks etc.

Now according to Paulwell , EWI submitted a bid to him (yes to PP), who reviewed the bid and thought it was one that is due for consideration based on the economic value of the bid and the fact that it could allow the country to get lower energy cost.

Paulwell then takes the bid document to the highest legislative body in the country, which is the  cabinet and they all agreed ( according to Paulwell) that it’s worth consideration. The Cabinet then instructed Paulwell to pass on the bid to the OUR  for consideration.

Now why did EWI approach Paulwell and not the OUR, think about it carefully. It was the OUR which asked for proposals for the 360MW generating plant, so why would a private entity seek out our Enegry Minister and hand him a document containing an unsolicited bid for a project that was out to tender,  Someone is not being very transparent here.

What commitment if any was made by the Minister to Energy World International. Come on think about it, a representative from a private entity does not just ring of a Government Minister and tells him he has a package to hand over to him, without prior discussions taking place between the two, Neither does the representative from that private entity simply meet the Minister, hands over a portfolio and flies back to Hong Kong, come of folks, we are not all idiots.

Now keep in mind, the Energy Minister’s sole mission here is to get Jamaica much cheaper electricity in the region of $0.15 -$0.20 per KW before 2016.

Let’s examine something else for a brief moment. Phillip Paulwell would like for us to believe that he had no knowledge of the price per KW the entities who submitted their bids on time were proposing they could deliver the plant at. Let’s assume for a minute that his statement here is true, how did he then arrive at the view that this sealed bid from EWI was “worth considering” given  the price it could deliver energy at?

Mr Paulwell of course could say , well in fell in the ballpark of the price per KW he is looking and hence his reason for its inclusion or he knew the price of the others were and as such EWI would have been offering the lowest cost per KW, which would be in keeping with what he wants.

I firmly believe that of all the bidders EWI offers the best technically sound project and can deliver energy at the lowest possible price thus saving this country in the region of $3b per annum on fuel prices. This is not something you can scoff at, but I believe the way we went about doing this bring in question the independence of the regulator as it relates to political interference, which can do untold damage not only it’s (the OUR) reputation but also of the members of the OUR, as well as the way Jamaica is viewed on the international stage.

Mr Phillip Paulwell therefore needs to remove himself from the process and play no further part save and expect for stating the deliverables,set timelines and allowing the regulator to do it’s job. When they have completed the process and hand over the relevant documents, then is when the Minister should begin to have any further involvement in the process.

Minister, you cannot be appear to be driven by a personal or even party agenda, your sole focus should be on doing what is right and transparent and will ultimately deliver the right result. Anything else will bring into sharp focus your integrity and could not only damage your reputation, but also that of the members of the OUR.

You don’t want to be seen on the international scene when you become Prime Minister as one of those persons who is not trustworthy, your integrity sir must be paramount. We live in a global village and people are become less tolerant of real or perceived corruption or gateways to corruption.

A dat me seh

Filed under: Corruption, Energy |