dominica2day: Dominica signs Transnational Partnership Agreement with the French

Dominica signs Transnational Partnership Agreement with the French
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sdoug on 21 April, 2008 10:52:00
 
The vision of Dominica’s fifth Prime Minister, the late Rosie Douglas to
develop closer ties with France through the French Departments of Guadeloupe and
Martinique is now being realized with the signing last week of a Transnational
Partnership Agreement with the Regional Council of Guadeloupe for the
development of Dominica’s geothermal energy resources.
Mrs. Josette Borel- Lincertin, 1st Vice President of the Regional Council of
Guadeloupe and Hon. Charles Savarin, Dominica’s Minister for Public Utilities,
Energy and Ports signed the agreement, a development described by Hon. Savarin
as a “significant landmark in the relationship between the people of
Guadeloupe and Martinique, and the people of Dominica”.
“Although this project is meant to address the exceedingly high electricity
rates in Dominica and the over-dependence on petroleum products for generating
electricity in Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique, it is also intended to
support and provide for increased economic activity in all three participating
countries-Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica. Additionally it will have the
very desirable effect of deepening relations between these three Caribbean
countries and their peoples,” Hon. Savarin stated.
In her remarks at the signing ceremony, Mrs. Josette Borel- Lincertin said that
the effects of climate change and the escalating cost of fuel had meant that
alternatives to fossil energies had to explored.
“We are all aware that the global climate warning and the escalating costs of
oil must encourage us to seek alternatives to fossil energies (gas, oil, coal).
Sustainable development has precisely been one of the priority topics governing
the Guadeloupe Regional Council policy since 2007….” The signing of the
Transnational Partnership Agreement which falls under the “Geothermal Energy
in the Caribbean Islands” project will involve, among other things, the
detailed geological, geophysical and geochemical analyses and related
environment and feasibility studies on the geothermal resource.
The project can be considered as a necessary preliminary phase of the process
to develop geothermal energy in Dominica, the results of which will be used in
the next phase, which is the EU-funded project—“Preparation of a
Geothermal-based Cross-Border Electrical Interconnection in the Caribbean”.
The partners to the Agreement are the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, the
Regional Council of Martinique, the French Agency for Environment and Energy
Management (ADEME), the French Geological Survey (BRGM) and Dominica.
The project is funded with contributions by all partners. Additional financial
support totaling 495, 525 euros is provided by the French Development Agency
(AFD). Total cost of the project is approximately 1, 149,510 euros. Dominica’s
contribution in kind is valued at 70,650 euros.
It is expected that the work on the ground will be completed by the end of
November, 2008. By that time, the European Union funded project would have
started, with the Programme Management Unit for that project, established and
fully functional.
The signing of this Transnational Partnership Agreement represents the
fulfillment of one of the key tenets of the vision of Dominica’s late Prime
Minster, Hon. Rosie Douglas, who for more than two decades held the view that
the future success of Dominica depended to a large extent on the country forging
closer ties with France, through closer relations with Martinique and
Guadeloupe.