JPS restoration continues with 88% of customers back on grid

 

President and CEO of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), Hugh Grant, says JPS crews and their overseas partners have ramped up to the restoration of electricity to communities still in the dark nearly two months after Hurricane Melissa slammed into the island. 

 

Speaking Wednesday at the official commissioning of the Emergency Mobile Power Generation Unit in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, Mr. Grant said the company is making progress and restoring power supply to the affected communities in Western Jamaica. 

 

"JPS is working every hour of every day until power is restored to all communities in this great nation of Jamaica. Our crews are pushing in the hardest hit areas, rebuilding and redesigning what was destroyed and finding solutions, frankly, where none existed before. We are working in close collaboration with all stakeholders, with a shared goal of rebuilding Jamaica," said Mr. Grant, who acknowledged the effort of other key stakeholders including Energy Minister Daryl Vaz and other political representatives, as well as the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). 

 

Nearly 100,000 Jamaicans are still without electricity. 

 

More than 200 overseas linesmen, mostly from Canada and the United States, have been assisting in the restoration exercise. 

 

The authorities have cautioned that due to the extent of the damage to the JPS network, some communities will not receive electricity until February. 

 

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz again defended the decision of the government to offer a loan of US$150 million, or J$24 billion, to the JPS to assist the company to secure funding to repair its network. 

 

"Let me just make it clear to all who are here, all who have eyes to see and have ears to hear. If I had to do it again, I would lend you $150 million every day and twice on Sunday because the people want light," he declared, noting that at least 88 per cent of customers now have power.

 

He said more than 250 pieces of equipment will arrive in the island in another few days to help bolster the work of the 300 linesmen in western parishes. This, he maintained, will lead to quicker restoration of power for about 90,000 of the remaining 100,000 JPS customers without electricity.