Recurring blackouts frustrate Perth Town residents

WESTERN BUREAU:

Residents of Perth Town in Trelawny are upset with the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) after enduring months of recurring lengthy power outages, fires on electrical lines during rainy weather, and unsatisfactory responses from the utility company.

On Monday, the residents told The Gleaner that the outages have been taking place in September and often last two or three days per week.

As a result, they reported having suffered damage to their electrical appliances and losses due to food spoilage.

Shopkeeper Shanique Smith complained that she ends up losing approximately $30,000 in refrigerated foodstuff after the outages.

“With the light going on and off, on and off every minute, it’s [damaging] everything. And there is low voltage when it even comes on, the lights are dim, the fridges are down, and the TVs are giving bad voltage,” she said.

“I have a main fridge, a deep freezer, with every meat in there, and if I do [an] evaluation on all the meat, it’s approximately $25,000 or $30,000 worth of chicken back, chicken foot, chicken liver, fish, and pork, and they get spoiled and I have to throw out everything and cook to give dogs. The dogs are eating all my meat, so how am I going to get back all my money for this? This can’t work,” Smith outlined.

“I have meat in the fridge, juices are there, and plus I have my children’s homework for them to do and there’s no Internet. I can’t bother with this no more,” Smith groused.

She said that their calls to the JPS to report the issue are not usually fruitful.

“Normally when we call them, they say they are unavailable and they can’t come, or they can’t deal with us,” she told The Gleaner.

PARTIAL SOLUTION

Some residents have resorted to buying solar-powered lights, oftentimes paying up to US$40 (J$6,233) for one light, to provide much-needed illumination whenever there is no electricity.

But that measure only solves one small part of the problem as they still need to use electrical appliances for other necessary domestic tasks, such as ironing. Some adults and children eventually end up having to go to work and school wearing untidy outfits, an experience that hotel worker Charvon Hudson is all too familiar with.

“Sometimes it’s all three days before we get current. Two or three times I’ve gone to work with my uniform crushed up, and it looks bad because I work at a hotel, and the supervisor complains about how I’m at my yard and my uniform is crushed up and I come on the people’s property, and I feel embarrassed,” Hudson shared.

Despite the risk of injury, some residents have also taken on the task of trimming tree limbs to clear the electrical wires to counter the fear of fires, instead of enduring a lengthy wait for JPS contractors to visit and do the job.

Senior citizen Malvia Barrett said that to add insult to injury, they are getting substantial bills despite the outages and the JPS’s slow response to their plight, including effecting repairs to damaged lines.

“About two weeks back, the rain fell and the wire caught fire, and we had to call them. That was the Thursday (November 2), and on Sunday, after 4 p.m., they came and put on back the light,” Barrett said, noting that sometimes the wires are also downed by passing trucks.

“Last month, I paid $12,000 for light bill, and I don’t have anything in my house except a little fridge and a little TV, and I don’t use the TV more than so. When they sent the bill the month before last, it was $34,000, and I said, ‘After mi nah keep go-go shop,’ and after they checked it out, it was $7,000,” Barrett added.

Nutchell Millings lamented the lack of compensation for their suffering.

“A couple of weeks ago, we were out of power for more than 55 hours, which is more than two days. So many people in the village have had spoiled meat and other spoiled items because JPS doesn’t respond; sometimes in the first response, they say that where the damage is, they can’t reach there tonight, and that’s tomorrow business,” said Millings. “That is very poor, and JPS is not going to call and say they are going to take something off the bills because we faced 55 hours without power; we’re still getting the high bills.”

JPS Media and Public Relations Manager Audrey Williams told The Gleaner that Perth Town is one of several communities identified for improvement works.

“The lines presently serving Perth Town run through very difficult and rugged terrain, with dense vegetation extending from Martha Brae via River Road and on to Perth Town. The current challenge to access several areas of the line is a major factor that delays our ability to respond quickly to unplanned outages,” said Williams.

She said that to improve its ability to access these lines, the JPS has commenced work to relocate them.

“The new route, when completed, will see lines running from Reserve into Perth Town. The work began in August 2023 and should be completed by the end of February 2024,” Williams told The Gleaner, adding that the power company will carry out interim measures to bring improvements to the residents of Perth Town.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com