Accountability- Cuban light bulb project

The government announced recently that it will be resuming the distribution of the light bulbs given to Jamaica by the Cuban government.  After all of the problems which surrounded the previous distribution effort there is much concern about this effort.

If we are going to hold our government accountable, we need to know a few things.  Of the original amount received, how many were distributed and how many went missing?  We know that the amount to be distributed now is 160,000 bulbs but we do not have any other information.  We need to know what the cost will be to distribute the remaining bulbs.  This cost should be broken down into travel, accommodation, salaries, etc.  This information can then be compared with the costs incurred during the last phase to assess its reasonableness.  Restarting the project without supplying this data is not acceptable.

In addition, we need to know what the process of distribution will be and the procedures that will be in place to prevent the problems that arose before.  We all remember the pictures of vendors in the markets selling the light bulbs and we do not wish to see that happen again.  One also must wonder if the number of bulbs to be distributed is worth the effort or whether we should have obtained/bought more to ensure a more effective distribution.  In other words, we do not know if the bulbs that are left will complete the job,  given that so many went missing.

If the aim of the government is to make an effort to reduce the consumption of electricity, then the focus should be on ensuring that all houses have only energy efficient bulbs.  A critical part of the exercise is the destruction of the old bulbs so as to ensure that they cannot be used again.  To be effective we need to eliminate all waste of electricity and ensure that all persons work toward saving electricity.  This aim will benefit both the householder through lower bills and the country through a reduction in the amount of oil to be imported each year.

At the end of the exercise, we would like to get a report on the distribution and the actual costs incurred and suitable explanations for any adverse variances.  This will help us to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation.  It seems to me that there is one more critical component to this exercise.  There is no point to distributing energy efficient bulbs if persons can simply go back to the store and buy regular bulbs.

The temptation to sell the energy efficient bulbs would arise once again.  In order to ensure that this does not happen, the government should allow for the importation of energy efficient bulbs only.  This will ensure that we do not have to repeat the whole exercise in a few years time.