KINGSTON, Jamaica, Jul 24, 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 full restoration in the timelines needed, Vaz has again criticised 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 are still without electricity three weeks after the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
“This leads me to the point of where the information that is coming out of JPS and what is happening on the ground is 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 it is the harder it gets for those without electricity,” he said, adding that there were several pumps belonging to the National Water Commission (NWC) “that 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 get back to earn a livilihood if they are unable to replant or unable to 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 that there must be a disconnect regarding information being fed to the power company’s control centre from its regional posts.
“I am saying 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 amount of customers still disconnected and the communities that are still out of power is absolutely flawed,” Vaz said.
The statement by Vaz comes as the JPS Wednesday condemned what it terms threats of violence made agains its employees as they carry out restoration work across the island.
JPS warned that it would not jeopardise 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 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 energise their communities”.
JPS said that while it understands the frustration of those who are still without electricity, roadblocks and protests which prevent safe access to lines and facilities that are critical to restoration, could cause efforts to be further delayed than is needed.
The company, which said it has restored electricity to 95 per cent of its customer base, is calling for calm as it continues with the efforts to deal with the situation.
It said power has been fully restored to hospitals and major healthcare facilities, pledging to have the full restoration of power to the hardest hit communities by August 5.
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