Budget Speech 2011 - Government of Grenada

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This voluntary commitment provides Grenada with the moral authority to continue to play a lead role in the ongoing international climate change negotiations, the outcomes of which are vital to our very survival. Let me now address our priorities for 2011. Pursuing the potential discovery of geothermal energy and its exploitation is now the top priority for this Administration in the energy sector. The successful exploitation of this potential resource will dramatically reduce our dependence on imported fuels, provide long term energy security, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately allow the transport sector, which consumes the majority of fuel imports, to transition to electric vehicles and be powered by a clean electricity grid. Last July, Cabinet appointed a Geothermal Energy Committee comprised of representatives of responsible Ministries and GRENLEC and has requested this committee to accomplish two major tasks: 1. To prepare drafting instructions for a Geothermal Resources Bill, which would, amongst other things: a. Declare that the resource is the patrimony of the State. b. Enable Grenada to grant exploration and production licenses; c. Enable Grenada to charge Royalties and other Fees for the extraction of the geothermal resource. 2. To negotiate an exclusive Resource License and Concession Agreement with GRENLEC, subject to approval by Cabinet. We have appointed a geothermal energy Project Manager to strengthen the Energy Division and to chair the Geothermal Energy Committee. The committee has been meeting. The Government wishes to expedite these negotiations, cognisant of the need to make planning decisions on future generating capacity. Government is committed to facilitating the private sector investment required to have a 20 megawatt geothermal plant operational, as Phase 1, by the end of 2013. 2011 Budget Statement Page 47
We are working closely with the Office of the Attorney General to draft a Geothermal Bill to ensure all investments proceed within a sound legal framework. Government will also seek funding through the fifth cycle of the Global Environmental Facility (using the flexibility mechanism under the new System for Transparent Allocation of Resources) to help defray the costs of the risky exploratory drilling phase and to allow for an equitable licensing agreement to explore for and use national geothermal resources. This, Mr. Speaker, leads me to another priority of our administration, which is to secure grant funding and concessionary loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. During the recent Climate Change Negotiations in Cancun, our Prime Minister, on behalf of AOSIS, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, along with representatives of the World Bank, UNDP and the Danish Government for the operationalisation of a new financial mechanism called SIDS Dock in 2011. SIDS Dock is targeted at facilitating sustainable energy projects in small island developing states. The Danish government will kindly provide an initial capitalisation of this mechanism of US$14.5 million and Grenada has already submitted a US$1.0 million dollar proposal for funding of its geothermal programme I am also pleased to report that we have been successful in securing 2.5 million Euros (EC$ 8.9 million) in grant funding, under the ACP-EU Energy Facility, to partially finance the purchase and installation of wind turbines to provide up to 1.9 megawatts of electricity generating capacity and displace up to 68% of the diesel currently used to generate electricity in Carriacou. The people of Carriacou will benefit from stable electricity prices in the future and will also benefit from being able to market Carriacou as a green and eco-friendly destination. A potential co-benefit of the wind project may be the generation of desalinated water and the production of ice for the fishing communities on our sister islands. We wish to commend GRENLEC for their assistance in putting together the proposal to the EU and we look forward to the implementation of this Page 48 2011 Budget Statement
Page 1 and 2: GOVERNMENT OF GRENADA 2011 Budget S
Page 3 and 4: 5.8 Strengthening Economic Manageme
Page 5 and 6: Page 4 2011 Budget Statement
Page 7 and 8: At home, many of us lost loved ones
Page 9 and 10: not accompanied by significant job
Page 11 and 12: Mr. Speaker, the data show that the
Page 13 and 14: 3.0 LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS 3.1 Performa
Page 15 and 16: In an effort to provide additional
Page 17 and 18: It is useful to understand how Gove
Page 19 and 20: Based on the revised GDP, Grenada
Page 21 and 22: This year, our VAT Unit will intens
Page 23 and 24: Improving the Business Climate •
Page 25 and 26: o o 6 acres of avocados 10.6 acres
Page 27 and 28: • Provided every primary and seco
Page 29 and 30: Violence Act - landmark legislation
Page 31 and 32: We pointed out that there are sever
Page 33 and 34: We commenced the process of tax ref
Page 35 and 36: In preparing this strategy we have
Page 37 and 38: will depend on two additional criti
Page 39 and 40: The individual freedoms we enjoy in
Page 41 and 42: Public Debt - $188.3 million (or 24
Page 43 and 44: 4. Improved marketability of fish p
Page 45 and 46: Support for Airlift It should be no
Page 47: in securing vacations and is workin
Page 51 and 52: to explore the technical and commer
Page 53 and 54: the three (3) sites, thus negating
Page 55 and 56: In a real sense, C@ribNET is a cata
Page 57 and 58: And Grenada is not alone. Having re
Page 59 and 60: Project Grenville Market Developmen
Page 61 and 62: The report showed that of the perso
Page 63 and 64: To our dismay, the design works wer
Page 65 and 66: Its development goal is to contribu
Page 67 and 68: Programme. This initiative will tar
Page 69 and 70: VI. Support for Existing Businesses
Page 71 and 72: and we will continue to offer that.
Page 73 and 74: persons whose employment was involu
Page 75 and 76: This year, Government will continue
Page 77 and 78: 9. Creating training and educationa
Page 79 and 80: The Grenada Home Improvement Scheme
Page 81 and 82: 4. To commence work on the Top Hill
Page 83 and 84: The Sustainable Development Council
Page 85 and 86: The updated Public Service Rules an
Page 87 and 88: These achievements included: • Su
Page 89 and 90: all sectors of our society. NaDMA w
Page 91 and 92: The Organisation of Eastern Caribbe
Page 93 and 94: Mr. Speaker, we have articulated a
Page 99 and 100:
Page 98 2011 Budget Statement
Page 101 and 102:
Page 100 2011 Budget Statement
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Budget Speech 2011 - Government of Grenada

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