Solar Powered Lights to Light Up RMI Streets

BY PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SECRETARIAT
11 November 2013, Suva Fiji: Urban centres in the Republic of the Marshall Islands will soon be lit through solar powered street lighting systems.

The project funded through the Pacific Environment Community (PEC) Fund will see 78 solar powered Light Emitting Diode (LED) street lights installed in the urban areas of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

“I wish to congratulate the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on the commencement of this important PEC Fund project,” says Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. “The solar LED streetlights will allow the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to expand its street lighting to areas that do not have streetlights at present. Most importantly, the project will reduce reliance on the use of environmentally damaging fossil fuels, displacing the equivalent of 17,000 litres of diesel per year, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions by approximately three tonnes per year.”

The Financing Agreement which provides the terms and conditions for the use of the PEC Funds has been signed by the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and by the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands through the Minister and Secretary of the Ministry of Resources and Development on November 8, 2013.

On signing of the agreement, the first milestone payment is released by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and project implementation will commence. The support provided by the PEC Fund is for approximately $800,000USD. This is RMI’s second project with RMI now utilising its USD4million allocation. RMI is currently implementing a salt water desalination project with the remainder of the PEC Funding.

Source: http://www.solomontimes.com/news/solar-powered-lights-to-light-up-rmi-streets/8002