JPS to Complete Restoration Work by September 9

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is projecting that by September 9 it would have completed its work and restored power to all customers.
As at the end of the workday on Thursday (Aug. 23), the company had restored power to 225,000 or 42 per cent of its 560, 000 customers, said Corporate Communications Officer, Ruthlyn Johnson at a press conference held on (Aug. 24) at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management’s (ODPEM) Camp Road headquarters.
“We’re now at the phase where we are still restoring mass groups of people,” she said, noting that as of today “we are going to start looking at those customers that have a broken pole here, a broken pole there or some downed lines”.
Miss Johnson said that by Sunday (Aug. 26), power should be restored to most customers in Kingston and St Andrew, St. Catherine, St. James, Westmoreland, Hanover, Trelawny, and St. Ann, and by Friday (Aug. 31), most customers in the parishes of St. Thomas, Portland and St. Mary should have access to the utility, before attention is focused on the “difficult parishes” of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth, to complete the restoration work by September 9.
Appealing to customers in these parishes to “really bear with us,” Miss Johnson explained that there was “extensive damage to the transmission and distribution system in those three parishes, so we’re going to have some accessibility problems, so it’s going to result in an extension in the restoration programme.”
She noted that customers can assist the JPS in expediting the process. “If there is a broken line, for example, if the wire that comes to your pothead from the main line is broken, if you can get an electrician to fix it, that makes it easier for us, because as soon as we’re ready to turn on the power on your street, you would already have sorted out that problem, and when the light is on you will get,” she stated.
She said that the company is working tirelessly to get power restored to the country, and urged customers to bring to the JPS’ attention, any critical facilities such as hospitals that have not yet had power restored.