Beryl taught JPS important lessons, says CEO
Published:Friday | August 16, 2024 | 12:08 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Hugh Grant, CEO of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), says the devastation to its distribution network by Hurricane Beryl has provided important lessons in how to handle restoration work in the future.
“Coming out of this experience, we have already captured a lot of lessons learned, and we have already integrated [some of them] in our processes,” Grant said on Thursday during a press conference at the Bethlehem Moravian College in St Elizabeth.
He said that one of the biggest lessons is that the power company should ensure that its priority order of restoration resonates with the community. This, he added, includes working with stakeholders, such as municipal corporations, to understand the level of essential services they provide and the communities they are serving.
“Richard Solomon may have a particular pump that is critical to a particular area, so having that information as an input to inform our restoration will be helpful,” explained Grant, referring to the mayor of Black River and chairman of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation.
The JPS CEO, who got a chance to see the restoration team, which includes local and overseas personnel, at work, also pointed out the need to improve vegetation management to prevent trees from falling and causing damage to power lines.
“I can tell you, post-Beryl, that’s only going to ramp up and continue even more aggressively, as trees falling on our lines are a big component of damage and extended outages,” stated Grant, who is only in his second week at the helm of the company.
Rebuilding the network
He re-emphasised that because of the severity of the damage, the JPS has to be rebuilding the network in some areas, which is contributing to the extended delay in restoration in some communities.
“The good news is, we continuously look to secure more resources, and, early next week, we will be getting another eight linesmen from USAID (United States Agency for International Development) to help us with boots on the ground and hands in the air to help support our restoration effort,” said Grant.
This will bring to 43 the number of overseas skilled personnel that will be on the ground helping with the recovery effort. The 35 overseas personnel already on the ground are from the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) and Canada.
“The expertise of these men is that they are linemen who can climb poles and use bucket trucks to help with the restoration process. I have been getting good feedback from the team in terms of their contributions. They come with good skill sets and are making a difference,” said the JPS CEO.
In recognition of the hardship being faced by the residents of St Elizabeth since the passage of the hurricane, Grant said the company will be giving $50 million in credit to some 10,000 residents of the parish who are still in the dark.
“Each of these customers will receive $5,000 towards their bill. This will be reflected as a credit on their bills,” said Grant.
The JPS is working towards meeting an August 31 deadline to fully restore electricity to St Elizabeth.