Jamaicans open transformer plant
Last Friday Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton welcomed the presentation of Federal Transformer Manufacturing and Consulting Limited (FTMC) into the local manufacturing sector.
Last Friday Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton welcomed the presentation of Federal Transformer Manufacturing and Consulting Limited (FTMC) into the local manufacturing sector.
He noted it would contribute significantly to reducing the costs of electricity to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) and its approximately 600,000 commercial and residential customers as well.
“Today, FTMC Limited is in receipt of a three-year contract to exclusively supply (its primary client) Jamaica Public Service (JPS) with transformer refurbishing, maintenance and consulting services,” Hylton said.
He mentioned that prior to the arrival of FTMC Limited to Jamaica, the JPS used to refurbish its transformers in Canada.
The industry minister was speaking at last Friday’s launch of FTMC Limited at the former Jamaica Bauxite Mines Plant in Lydford District, St Ann. The investment of the company is US$400,000 in start-up capital.
The goal of FTMC Limited will be to manufacture and refurbish transformers of various sizes and voltage output levels. Also, the company will extend its consulting and maintenance services to other clients such as Wigton Wind Farm in Manchester and major hotels throughout the country that generate their own electricity.
There are currently 23 persons employed, the goal for the next three years is to have more than 200 workers.
“This is particularly good news for our young people studying electrical engineering as this investment will increase their job prospects,” Minister Hylton said.
The shareholders of FTMC limited are returned Jamaican residents Granville Reid, Dr Harvey Reid and Clarence Harrison.
The company’s CEO and founder, Granville Reid fulfilled his dream with this project by returning home and contributing to the development of his homeland and also presenting a feasible alternative to migration for engineering university graduates.
The investor in the electrical engineering and manufacturing fields is adamant that FTMC Limited will fulfil its three-year service delivery schedule which will reduce JPS’s equipment importation bill by 75 per cent.
“This is what Federal can achieve; we can cut the cost of buying transformers from abroad by 25 per cent in the first year. In the second year, we want to cut the cost of buying transformers from abroad by 50 per cent. The third year, we want to cut the cost of buying transformers from abroad by 75 per cent, and this is not a myth,” Reid said.
Source: Jamaica Observer
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