DECISION PENDING

TO date no decision has been made on the fate of the solar farm proposed by Canadian energy company, Deltro.

New reports earlier this week indicated that the company had received permission from the Town and Country Planning Office (TCPO) for both a manufacturing plant to produce solar panels, and a 10-megawatt solar farm, but the top man at the TCPO says only the plant has been approved so far. He indicated that the plant is to be set up at a site in Kendall Hill, Christ Church.

The Chief Town Planner, Mark Cummins, was speaking during an interview with The Barbados Advocate yesterday morning at his Garrison, St. Michael office, about the upcoming edition of the Physical Development Plan, and community meetings that have been scheduled to get the public’s feedback about the ten proposed community plans. Those community plans, he said, will cover areas within the country, including the towns – Warrens, Wildey and Six Roads.

Cummins said that his office is yet to approve the multimillion-dollar solar farm, which the company hopes it can establish on approximately 70 acres of land in Waterford, St. Michael.

“The application that was made for the solar farm, at what I call Friendship or Waterford, to my best knowledge, and I sought confirmation yesterday [Thursday], planning permission has not been granted. There is no record that planning permission has been granted for that,” he indicated.

However, he disclosed that a decision on the initiative, which Deltro officials have said is expected to cost in the region of US$20 million, could come as early as next week. The Head of the TCPO made the comments as he also revealed that his office has made a recommendation to the Minister responsible for Town Planning, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Freundel Stuart, regarding the proposed site. However, he did not elaborate on what that suggestion was. (JRT)