Nevis Legal Advisor – Mr. Patrice Nisbett
Charlestown, Nevis
May 13, 2009
Legal Advisor to the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Mr. Patrice Nisbett said Wednesday, that the Geothermal Contract between geothermal developers West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. (WIP) and the NIA, had nothing for the people of Nevis to fear and would be made available for public study.
Mr. Nisbett made the disclosure in an interview with the Department of Information on the Geothermal Resource Development contract which was signed at a public ceremony at the Netball Complex, Charlestown in April.
“There is nothing for us to fear, there is no devil in the details, we have promised the people a very open and transparent way of dealing and negotiating this agreement.
“The people of this country will get a chance to examine its contents and this generation and future generations will be able to judge us as to whether we were able to get the best agreement for the people of Nevis,” he said.
According to Mr. Nisbett, the Agreement followed the Geothermal Resource Development Ordinance which was passed in the Nevis Island Assembly in July 2008.
The Ordinance mandated that the Minister with responsibility for Natural Resources on Nevis kept a register of all grants of permits, licences and concessions.
“That particular register is in fact a public document and so quite shortly, the Geothermal Resource Development Contract which contains the permits, licences and concessions and the incentives and other terms that were negotiated, would in fact be made public for citizens and residents of Nevis to have a chance to look at the negotiations that were made on their behalf.
The legal Advisor described the Agreement as a landmark on which would bring significant benefit to the people of Nevis and also to WIP which in his view was a fair and balanced binding document.
Mr. Nisbett explained that the agreement sought to protect the resource and the interest of the people of Nevis and also that of WIP. It would allow the company to harness and develop the geothermal resource on the island with the necessary government assistance that any developer who wanted to develop Nevis was entitled to.
He said the development of the geothermal resource on Nevis would have a ripple benefit for the people of Nevis.
“I believe that geothermal resource energy will not only bring clean, cheap and green energy to the people of Nevis and the wider Caribbean but it will ensure that Nevis will become energy independent. That will enable us to attract businesses to Nevis and would generate employment and revenue for our country,” he said.