The Editor, Sir:

It was encouraging to hear the Prime Minister speak Sunday evening of the urgent necessity to reduce our dependence on imported oil, but disappointing that he only spoke of biofuels as a..Before we use up land we will need for food production in the production of fuel, it would be sensible to extract every unit of energy possible from the solar, wind, water and probably geothermal resources which are available free on an on-going basis.

Certainly, we need to import, or, more usefully, produce locally the technology to harness these sources of power. We should have been doing this as a matter of priority for decades, so now we must catch up because of years of neglect.

Amazingly, the first reference I have seen to a solar water heater in Jamaica was in the early 1930s. If that impulse had been followed up, every house and apartment would long have had a solar-heated water supply.

An urgent national debate on the question o energy solutions is vital to help move us quickly to a more rational use of resources and a greater concern for the impact of our present energy policy on our economy and environment.

I am, etc.,

JOY LUMSDEN

our.history@jamaica.la

Kingston 6