KINGSTON, Jamaica — Power line workers from Belize and the Cayman Islands are set to assist Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) teams in restoring power to areas still affected by Hurricane Beryl, which struck on July 3. This support is being coordinated through the Caribbean Electricity Services Corporation (Carilec).
Prime Minister Andrew Holness provided an update on the government’s recovery efforts during a statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.
JPS reported that power has been restored to 94 percent of its customers, approximately 655,000 people. However, significant restoration work remains, particularly in the hardest-hit parish of St Elizabeth, which accounts for 5% of JPS’s client base.
Prime Minister Holness noted that JPS plans to bolster its workforce by recalling former employees and hiring local contractors from the bauxite industry to work in Hanover and St Elizabeth.
“The customer base is concentrated in Kingston, St Andrew, Spanish Town, Portmore, and St James. This is due to the urban nature of electricity usage,” Holness stated, emphasizing that while most urban areas have seen power restoration, rural areas continue to face challenges.
He highlighted that all major hospitals have regained power and 81 percent of the National Water Commission’s critical facilities were operational as of July 16. In St Elizabeth, approximately 49 percent of customers now have power restored, including areas such as Black River, Junction, Alligator Pond, Santa Cruz, Siloa, Lacovia, Elderslie, and parts of Top Hill.
JPS aims to achieve full power restoration across the island by the week ending August 10, according to Holness. However, there are still areas experiencing outages, such as the entire Milk River area in Clarendon South Western, including communities like Alley, Water Lane, Race Course, Banks, Kemps Hill, and Sedge Pond.
The Prime Minister assured that he would seek clarification from JPS regarding the restoration timeline for these areas, while noting that JPS is a private company with a 20 percent government stake.
