Roseau, Dominica – June 11, 2009……The dream of Venezuelan President, His Excellency, Hugo Chavez Frias to bring about energy security to Latin America and the Caribbean through his PetroCaribe project will manifest itself in a tangible way in Dominica on Saturday with the official commissioning of the new US$35 million “Waitukubuli Fuel Storage and Distribution Plant” at Jimmit.
President Chavez leads a delegation to Dominica on Saturday, June 13th 2009 for the official commissioning of the Plant, which was financed entirely by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This will be the second official visit by the Venezuelan President to Dominica after his highly successful visit in February, 2007.
President of Dominica, Dr. Nicholas Liverpool and Mrs. Liverpool, Prime Minister, Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit and Members of his Cabinet, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic and consular corps as well as scores of invited guests are expected to attend the official commissioning.
Six (6) tanks have been constructed on seven (7) acres of land to store and distribute diesel, gasoline, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Jet A1 fuel.
The total storage capacity at the Plant is thirty-five thousand (35,000) barrels and this capacity is enough to cover two months consumption for the island of Dominica.
The joint venture company, PDV Caribe Dominica Limited has been supplying diesel to the Dominica Electricity Services Limited (DOMLEC) since February, 2008. The company is also selling diesel and gasoline to private sector entities on the island. It expects to start selling LPG within the next two weeks. It is also envisaged that gasoline and diesel will be sold to government departments and to fisherfolk soon.
Currently eleven (11) persons are on the permanent staff at the plant, ten of whom are Dominicans. There are five (5) persons on temporary staff. The staff complement will be increased to thirty-three (33) in the medium to long-term.
PetroCaribe is an initiative of the Venezuelan President to help cushion the economies of Latin American and the Caribbean from escalating fuel prices internationally.
Dominica and twelve (12) other Caribbean countries signed on to the PetroCaribe agreement in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, on June 29, 2005. On September 6, 2005, Prime Minister, Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit signed a bilateral immunity agreement with Venezuela to give effect to the agreement.
The total number of PetroCaribe member states is now seventeen (17) with Guatamala expected to join soon.
