By LINDSAY THOMPSON

Bahamas Information Services

CAPE ELEUTHERA – The commissioning of the Administrative Building of the Cape Eleuthera Institute – a pioneering research facility - has set the trend in the development of alternative energy in The Bahamas.

Powered by the solar energy, the facilitators have proclaimed that the CEI campus represents an unparalleled opportunity to live, work and study in an innovative atmosphere. The facility is mainly designed for research in tropical sciences – a place for college and graduate level courses. About 45 students, of which two are Bahamians, are enrolled in the programme.

Addressing official opening ceremonies on Friday, March 31, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie though supported such a facility, declared that the College of the Bahamas must be involved in such innovative techniques.

"Our tertiary level institutions must be involved in the process of development and they must be integrated into the process of research that is taking place here in The Bahamas," the Prime Minister said.

He noted that as the College of the Bahamas is headed for university status, the institute must be involved in research of such levels, if only by sharing the results and observation.

"It would be a great tragedy if the research were taken back to the home offices of the scientists who are being commissioned to engage in that research," the Prime Minister said.

In looking at the colleges the Cape Eleuthera Institute is working with, he concluded that decisions have to be made to empower future generations and the way to guarantee that was through the tertiary educational system already in place.

On March 10, 2006, the Cape Eleuthera Institute commissioned the first grid-connected renewable energy system in Bahamian history. It is a collaboration effort with Bahamas Electricity Corporation, which also calls for the supplying of power to the nearby Deep Creek settlement.

The campus is outfitted with custom-built furniture from local woods, rainwater catchments for domestic water needs, and treats onsite sewerage system to tertiary standards to protect marine and freshwater resources. Students and scientists are able to access real time data on solar output and building consumption waste processing efficiency. They also learn elements of green building design and construction.

The Cape Eleuthera Institute is part of the Cape Eleuthera Foundation – a United States non-profit organisation that provides funding for scientific research and related areas. The foundation's projects include The Island School, the Deep Creek Middle School, and the CEI.

The Prime Minister said that in creating a Ministry of Energy and Environ-ment, he was attempting to show that the future of the country would be heavily influenced by the decisions on the question of energy – whether it is LNG or solar panels.

"When we speak of The Bahamas and we speak in despairing terms of being a country without natural resources, only having the sand and the sea and therefore designing industries around the sun, sand and sea and having a predominately driven tourist industry, little did we realise that we have been endowed by God with an abundance of resources," the Prime Minister said.

Brief remarks were also rendered by Dr. Livingston Marshall, Mr. Kevin Basden, General Manager of BEC; Senator the Hon. Dr. Marcus Bethel, Minister of Energy and the Environment; the Hon. Alfred Sears, Minister of Education, Science and Technology; John Carey, parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism; Mr. Steven Strong, Solar Design Associates; and the Hon. Oswald Ingraham, Member of Parliament for South Eleuthera.

PM AND STUDENTS — Students at The Island School attracted the attention of Prime Minister Perry Christie following opening ceremonies of the Cape Eleuthera Institute on Friday, March 31, 2006.(BIS photos by PETER RAMSAY)