Cabinet Approves $21.43 Million Contract for Mooring Facility at Rockfort

Cabinet has awarded a contract valued at $21.43 million to install a mooring facility for the delivery of heavy fuel oil to the Jamaica Private Power Company (JPPC) by Petrojam.
Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman made the disclosure yesterday (September 19) at the weekly post Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
The purpose of the facility, explained the Minister, would be to pipe the fuel oil from Petrojam’s vessels to the Rockfort power barge facility.
“At the present time what happens is that the fuel is carried by heavy equipment, heavy trucks, on the roads between the Petrojam port and the JPPC, and this is doing damage to the roads as well as not being a very efficient way of transporting the content and is more costly,” he said.
The mooring facility, which is slated for construction within a seven-week period, would be a cost-saving measure for the government and “ultimately, should make some marginal difference to the cost of production by the JPPC and to the cost of the Jamaica Public Service company,” the Minister pointed out.
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has given the necessary permits to facilitate construction of the facility.
Another contract, valued at $20.2 million has been awarded by the Cabinet to the Guatemala-based Roche Diagnostics Division, for the provision of reagents to be used in HIV viral load machines.
The contract is to be paid from the Global Fund grant that was created to support the fight against HIV/AIDS. Jamaica is currently a beneficiary of this grant.
Mr. Whiteman said an estimated 7,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica now required viral load testing for accurate monitoring of their status and treatment.
“The reagents that are being obtained through this contract are reagents which have also been manufactured by the organisation which manufactured the machine and it was thought desirable that the purchase should come from the same supplier because other reagents which really are of the same character, but which are not exactly compatible with the manufactured equipment, might create a problem. That is expected to ensure accuracy of the tests,” he explained.
Minister Whiteman said that the procurement process was pursued in accordance with the Government of Jamaica Procurement Guidelines and the World Bank Guidelines.
“This meets the approval of the Global Fund, which had provided the money for this particular programme,” he added.