The [post-Nov 10] 2011 Report on the viability of major energy projects in Samoa; it was carried out by David Wright, Management consultant, on behalf of the National Energy Coordination Committee.
Reuven Schwencke made this Official Information request to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The request was partially successful.
From: Reuven Schwencke
Dear Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
I would like to receive a copy of the [post-Nov 10] 2011 Report on the viability of major energy projects in Samoa; it was carried out by David Wright, Management consultant, on behalf of the National Energy Coordination Committee under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Samoa, and in consultation with MFAT
Yours faithfully,
Reuven Schwencke
From: WILL, Don (DS IDG)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Please find attached a letter notifying an extension of time to respond to the OIA of 14 August.
Kind regards,
Don Will
for Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
"The information contained in this email message is intended only for the addressee and is not necessarily the official view or communication of the Ministry. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this message or the information in it. If you have received this message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately."
From: WILL, Don (DS IDG)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Please find attached a scanned copy of the David Wright report on energy projects in Samoa you requested under the Official Information Act and our covering letter of reply.
Kind regards.
"The information contained in this email message is intended only for the addressee and is not necessarily the official view or communication of the Ministry. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this message or the information in it. If you have received this message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately."
From: Reuven Schwencke
Dear WILL, Don (DS IDG),
I note that you make reference to portions of the report that may be excluded. Could you outline the reason/s for this and a timeframe for access to these? Many thanks
Yours sincerely,
Reuven Schwencke
From: WILL, Don (DS IDG)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Reuven
Thank you for your email.
The reason some portions of the David Wright report have been withheld, or excluded, from the various renewable energy projects and proposals (eg estimated costs of energy, net energy savings or additional costs, financing arrangements, and key contractual parameters) is because of the commercial sensitivity of the information involved. The various companies and individuals provided such information to Mr Wright in confidence in most cases we understand to enable him to compile the report, which was prepared primarily for the information of, and use by, the Samoan authorities, and more specifically, Samoa's Renewable Energy Reference Group (we note that Wright marked his report ("Commercial in confidence to members of the Renewable Energy Reference Group"). We checked with the Samoan authorities and they indicated that they wanted these items withheld. As advised in our covering letter of 21 September to you the relevant items of information have been withheld under Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the Official Information Act, which provides for sensitive commercial information to be withheld to protect it in cases where release of it to other parties would prejudice the commercial position of the people or companies who supplied, or who are the subject if the information. (With regard to PEL's proposal in the report for producing biodiesel from palm oil for use in the transport and energy sectors we did not withhold information as there appear to be no grounds for withholding from the requester (ie yourself) information about, or provided by, the requester’s own company.)
You also asked about the timeframe for access to the excluded portions of the report. We regret that at this stage we do not know when, or if, the excluded parts might be made available; given the commercial sensitivities involved it is likely that most of the information withheld might not be able to be made available for a while, if at all.
Yours sincerely
Don Will
MFAT/IDG
-----Original Message-----
From: Reuven Schwencke [mailto:[OIA #492 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 9:06 a.m.
To: WILL, Don (DS IDG)
Subject: Re: OIA Request re Report on Energy Projects in Samoa
Dear WILL, Don (DS IDG),
I note that you make reference to portions of the report that may
be excluded. Could you outline the reason/s for this and a
timeframe for access to these? Many thanks
Yours sincerely,
Reuven Schwencke
-----Original Message-----
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Please find attached a scanned copy of the David Wright report on
energy projects in Samoa you requested under the Official
Information Act and our covering letter of reply.
Kind regards.
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Alex Harris left an annotation ()
The letter states the reason for the withhold as commercial confidence. That information will not be provided to you. You could ask the Ombudsman to review the decision, but from a quick glance they've been pretty tight with it, so its unlikely that it would be overturned.
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