KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—Less than 24 hours after Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said he made no apology for saying he has “very little confidence” in the capacity of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to effect complete restoration in the needed timelines, Vaz has again criticized the company for providing “flawed” information to the authorities.
He said he had received complaints from more than 20 parliamentarians that the majority of their constituencies were still without electricity three weeks after Hurricane Beryl’s passage.
“This leads me to the point where the information coming out of JPS and what is happening on the ground are at odds, and we have got to find a way to make sure that we are all on the same page,” he told reporters.
“We are now going into week four as of tomorrow as today is exactly three weeks since Beryl struck, and the longer we go, the harder it gets for those without electricity,” he said, adding that several pumps belonging to the National Water Commission (NWC) “are out after three weeks and several National Irrigation Commission pumps that supply water to farmers across the length and breadth of Jamaica.”
“The farmers of this country cannot return to earning a livelihood if they cannot replant or continue to water whatever is left of their produce.”
Vaz said the disparity between what JPS is reporting and what the legislators are saying means there must be a disconnect regarding information being fed to the power company’s control center from its regional posts.
“As a rural member of parliament, I can unequivocally say as it relates to Portland that what they have put out there in terms of the number of customers still disconnected and the communities still out of power is flawed,” Vaz said.
The statement by Vaz comes as the JPS condemned, on Wednesday, what it terms threats of violence made against its employees as they carry out restoration work across the island.
JPS warned that it would not jeopardize the safety of its workers by sending them into hostile environments and that residents of some communities continue to accost JPS teams as they protest against the delay in the restoration of their electricity supplies.
“Just yesterday, our team in Westmoreland had to be escorted out of a community by the security forces,” said Blaine Jarrett, senior vice president of energy delivery, adding, “In another instance, team members were allegedly cornered with residents demanding that they carry out works on lines that they believe would energize their communities.”
JPS said that while it understands the frustration of those still without electricity, roadblocks and protests that prevent safe access to lines and facilities critical to restoration could cause efforts to be further delayed than necessary.
The company, which said it has restored electricity to 95 percent of its customer base, is calling for calm as it continues to work to resolve the situation.
It said power has been fully restored to hospitals and major healthcare facilities and pledged to restore power to the hardest-hit communities fully by August 5.
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