Industry Minister Welcomes FTMC Limited to Jamaica

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon Anthony Hylton has welcomed the introduction of Federal Transformer Manufacturing and Consulting Limited (FTMC) into the local manufacturing sector.

He said the introduction of the company, could result in significant reduction in the cost of electricity to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), and its approximately 600,000 commercial and residential customers.

“Today, FTMC Limited is in receipt of a three year contract to exclusively supply (its primary client) Jamaica Public Service, (with) transformer refurbishing, maintenance and consulting services,” Mr. Hylton said.

He informed that prior to FTMC Limited coming to Jamaica; the JPS sent transformers to Canada to be refurbished.

“The operations at FTMC will therefore allow JPS to provide a more efficient and cost effective service to their consumers,” Minister Hylton stated.

The Industry Minister was speaking on Friday July 17, at the launch of FTMC Limited which is located at the former Jamaica Bauxite Mines Plant in Lydford District, St Ann. The company represents an investment of US$400,000 in start-up capital.

FTMC Limited will manufacture and refurbish transformers of various sizes and voltage output levels. Additionally, the company will provide consulting and maintenance services to other clients, including Wigton Wind Farm in Manchester and major hotels throughout the country that generate their own electricity.

Already the company has employed 23 persons and looks to increase the number to over 200 within 3 years.

“This is particularly good news for our young people studying electrical engineering as this investment will increase their job prospects,” Minister Hylton said.

FTMC limited shareholding is 100 percent Jamaican owned by returning residents, Granville Reid, Dr. Harvey Reid and Clarence Harrison.

For his part, FTMC Limited’s Chief Executive Officer and founder, Granville Reid said the project was the realisation of his dream to return home and contribute to the development of the country of his birth, while providing a viable alternative to migration for engineering university graduates.

“Young people need to get into some sort of career, but need the vehicle to move on….Federal Transformer is one of the vehicles I want to use to grasp the young minds. This is my dream and this is one of my main intentions,” Mr. Reid stated.

The investor, who is world renowned in the electrical engineering and manufacturing fields, gave the assurance that FTMC Limited will meet its three year service delivery schedule to cut JPS’s equipment importation bill by 75 percent.

“This is what Federal can achieve; we can cut the cost of buying transformers from abroad by 25 percent in the first year. In the second year, we want to cut the cost of buying transformers from abroad by 50 percent. The third year, we want to cut the cost of buying transformers from abroad by 75 percent, and this is not a myth,” Mr Reid guaranteed.

For her part, Minister of Youth and Culture and Member of Parliament for South East St Ann, Hon Lisa Hanna in making reference to the International Labour Organization statistics which speaks to a global crisis in youth unemployment, endorsed the FTMC Limited project as one that will assists government’s efforts to provide employment opportunities for the country’s youth.