Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Conference
According to the CIPORE website Montserrat does NOT exist. The CIPORE website is the official source of information for the upcoming conference. Perhaps some non existent individuals from the non existent island of Montserrat will attend the Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Conference to be held in Nevis from 30 June to 2 July, 2009. Montserrat is not included in the list of place names on the right side of the CIPORE website, nor on the Conference main page.(1)
Think Energy’s website links to the CIPORE with the official Conference information. Montserrat does appear on the agenda with this little listing: “Session three will deal with the topic ‘Situation and Perspectives of Geothermal Development in Eastern Caribbean Countries’. The moderator will be Minister of Public Utilities, NIA Hon. Carlisle Powell, with presentations from the governments of Montserrat and Dominica.”
Background information about Montserrat’s current geothermal-political climate
In Montserrat Geothermal information seems to be a National SECRET. So there has been NO information FROM the Government Montserrat regarding exactly who is attending this conference and WHO is making this presentation in Montserrat’s name. Apparently the plan is to secretly drill and then secretly install a power plant and secretly hook up the power while the island is asleep. Montserrat is a COLONY of the UK. Due to the “volcano crisis” the island is under the complete control of the Governor, who is an appointee of the British who oversee this island. ALL control over any development of Geothermal power appears to be under the thumb of the Governor and of DFID - UK Department for International Development. Perhaps it is Montserrat status as a colony of England is why Montserrat is not listed on CIPORE’s website? The Governor of Montserrat changes every three years. Every three years a new civil servant (appointed Governor) arrives on island and has to learn all about living with a live volcano and the intricacies of local island politics. (Hopefully one day this satirical statement can be retracted — when the geothermal plans and progress in Montserrat becomes transparent and open to public review.)
The Conference website is hosted by CIPORE, which stands for Caribbean Information Platform on Renewable Energy. This website is registered to an individual listing an address in Jamacia. A footnote on this website says: “CIPORE is the premiere portal for renewable energy information in the Caribbean”.
Ironically “Montserrat” appears nowhere on the index page of the CIPORE website. Even a search of the page yields “Phrase not found”. Montserrat is not on the list of participating countries either.
According to the official conference website this is what will be covered at the conference:
• “State-of-the-art” geothermal exploration and exploitation
• Situation & perspectives of geothermal development in the Eastern Caribbean
• Challenges & opportunities for geothermal development in the Eastern Caribbean: proposals for a New Agenda
• Geothermal exploration and development in Nevis (includes field trip)
• Training opportunities in geothermal
There is no charge for participation in this Conference however participation is by invitation only.”
Think GeoEnergy has a decent summary of the topics that the Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Conference will cover.
Missing in the planned AGENDA of the Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Conference is any mention of Mineral mining of the geothermal brine. Secrets like this won’t stay under wraps for long. The fact that Kerry McDonald holds a patent for a process to extract minerals from geothermal brine was discovered using a google search. Kerry McDonald is the CEO of the company in charge of the Geothermal project on Nevis: “Financing the Project” will be presented by Financial Controller of West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. Mr. Dima Apockinas while the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kerry Mc Donald and General Manager Mr. Rawlinson Isaac will speak about the company.” (click on underlined link and then go to the bottom of the article to see the context of the above quote.)
The people of Montserrat really need to be kept in the geothermal information loop.
Sources
(1) CIPORE stands for Caribbean Information Platform on Renewable energy
http://cipore.org/1st-eastern-geothermal-conference-2009/
(2) DFID – UK Department for International Development
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-DFID/
(3) http://thinkgeoenergy.com/archives/1871
