Over 25,000 JPS customers still without power, several cell sites remain out of service
Published:Friday | July 26, 2024 | 7:12 PM
In its latest update to the Government, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has indicated that approximately 25,567 of its customers are still without electricity following the passage of Hurricane Beryl more than three weeks ago.
The information was shared at a stakeholders meeting convened by Energy and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz, which was also attended by representatives of telecoms companies Flow and Digicel.
In a statement on the meeting, Vaz indicated that the discussion highlighted several challenges being faced that are delaying the recovery process, including damaged transmission lines and pole access difficulties in severely affected areas.
It was noted that outside of communities outrages, several National Water Commission pumps and National Irrigation Commission pumps used for farming irrigation are also still without electricity.
JPS outlined the following electricity restoration schedule for areas still being impacted:
* St Thomas – July 26, 2024
* Kingston and St Andrew – July 31, 2024
* St Catherine – July 31, 2024
* Portland – July 31, 2024
* Northern Trelawny – August 2, 2024
* St James – August 5, 2024
* St Mary – August 5, 2024
* St Ann – August 10, 2024
* Southern Trelawny – August 12, 2024 (areas served by feeders in Manchester)
* Clarendon - August 12, 2024
* Manchester – August 12, 2024
* St Elizabeth – August 12, 2024
* Westmoreland – August 12, 2024
* Hanover - August 12, 2024
JPS has pleaded to continue to provide regular updates through various channels, including their website, social media platforms, and community bulletins, to keep the public informed about restoration progress and any potential disruptions.
For his part, Vaz said he reiterated the importance of engaging additional contractors to assist with the restoration efforts.
“I have called on the JPS to increase their rates to contractors and incentivise them to get the work done quickly. The rates can be heightened by JPS and claimed back from the Emergency Disaster Fund - extraordinary times need extraordinary responses.”
He further stated, “Not only do we need to ensure that our citizens are taken out of the darkness, but the NWC and NIC pumps need to be brought back online as well. Currently, the telcos are depending on their standby services which is uneconomical as they await JPS to come online,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, on the matter of cell sites, it was indicated that 475 of 685 FLOW facilities have been restored, leaving 210 still out of commission.
For Digicel, 81 of 96 cell sites have been restored, leaving 15 still out of service.
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