More Linesmen, Equipment to Arrive Friday to Boost Electricity Restoration

Additional equipment and linesmen are scheduled to arrive in the island on  Friday (Jan. 2) to accelerate electricity restoration in areas currently without service.

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, made the disclosure while addressing the hundreds of residents who turned out for the inaugural Black River Fireworks Festival in St. Elizabeth on Wednesday (Dec. 31).

He assured residents that most communities currently without power should see significant improvement within weeks.

“By the end of January, 90 per cent of these areas that are without electricity will have electricity,” he said.

He noted that the reinstatement of electricity is being done in a structured way to ensure efficiency and reach.

“We will begin in the main towns. Then we will move to the main thoroughfares and then very quickly thereafter into the far and remote areas,” he informed.

As it relates to water, the Prime Minister said that “once power is restored, water will follow,” while acknowledging that more work will have to be done in areas that sustained extensive damage.

“I know that there are some water sources and distribution systems that have been disrupted badly and will not return with the restoration of electricity. Those will require a little longer,” he pointed out.

The Prime Minister said that there will be increased trucking to those areas, noting that the National Water Commission (NWC) has acquired 12 new water trucks with another eight to be procured.

“They will be stationed in these areas to ensure that communities that don’t have water will get water,” he said.

Turning to telecommunications, the Prime Minister said service restoration is well advanced.

“The telecommunications are returning very quickly. Most people now have at least some connectivity,” Dr. Holness said, adding that “by the end of January, I would say you would be more than 90 per cent restored.”