Jamaica to Ban Incandescent Light Bulbs in April 2023
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No one will be able to call ‘Tom Fool’ come next April Fool’s Day as a forewarning has been given to the Jamaican public that come Saturday, April 1, 2023, there will be a ban on the use of incandescent light bulbs in the country. The ban is said to encompass the manufacture, importation, distribution, purchase, export, and sale of the widely used bulbs.
On Friday afternoon, a release that states that the ban was sanctioned on Monday, September 19 by Cabinet, was issued by the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology.
The decision was finalized by virtue of a CARICOM 2018 ruling to get the ball rolling on the ban of incandescent lighting, which is an initiative that began to encourage productivity and energy preservation in addition to safeguarding consumers from low-performance light bulbs.
Reportedly, the ministry and the Jamaica Power Service Company (JPS) performed research in 2019 and 2020 which stipulated that a switch from 60W incandescent bulbs to using 9W LED bulbs in Jamaican homes would reduce the consumption of energy by a total of 85 percent.
The release stated, “The Ministry recommends the use of LED bulbs as they are energy saving and have greater longevity. LED lighting products typically last 3 to 5 times longer than contact fluorescent bulbs or 30 times longer than an incandescent bulb.”
It is estimated that after substituting incandescent bulbs with the better-performing lighting of LEDs, Jamaica could be looking at $1.3 billion saved annually.
According to the ministry, certain sectors of the marketplace will take some time to assimilate and thus, specific deliberation will be afforded to certain individuals; namely, small chicken farmers.
Additionally, a diversified public indoctrination drive will commence in order to apprise citizens of the many advantages of trading incandescent light bulbs with a more energy-efficient lighting solution.
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