‘Tis the season...to pay for your neighbour’s power
Published:Wednesday | December 18, 2024 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
As we usher in the festive season, I can’t help but channel Gerard Butler’s character in Law Abiding Citizen. In the 2009 film, Clyde Shelton (Butler) watches in disbelief as the justice system fails him after his family is brutally murdered. The killers get a slap on the wrist, and Clyde is left to seek his own form of justice – not just against those who wronged him, but against the broken system that let it happen.
In my case, I’m Clyde Shelton – except, instead of dealing with murderers, I’m paying for the crimes of my neighbours. And instead of a flawed justice system, my frustration lies with the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), which seems to do little to prevent electricity theft or penalise the perpetrators.
It would be laughable, if it weren’t so infuriating. As a paying customer, I, along with many other law-abiding citizens, am forced to carry the burden of electricity thieves. I’ve reported theft multiple times, only to see no meaningful action taken. Meanwhile, these offenders blithely string up illegal connections, blasting loud, nauseating music deep into the night, all while I’m footing the bill.
BETRAYED
To add insult to injury, we recently learnt that electricity theft — euphemistically termed ‘non-technical losses’ — cost the JPS over US$28 million in 2023 alone. Their solution? Charge honest customers an extra oneer cent on our bills to cover the loss. So not only am I paying for my neighbours’ stolen electricity, I’m also subsidising the thieves’ party lights.
Clyde Shelton believed in a justice system that ultimately betrayed him. Similarly, the JPS asks us to trust them — urging us to report electricity theft — only to turn a blind eye when we do. The perpetrators continue their misdeeds with impunity, while honest customers like me are left feeling betrayed and overburdened.
This Christmas, while my rogue neighbours enjoy brightly lit homes (on my dime), I’m left wondering: Where is the justice? To the leadership at the JPS, I say this — tighten enforcement, impose serious penalties, and start respecting the faith we place in you as paying customers. Maybe next Christmas, you could give us the gift of fairness: punish the thieves instead of punishing the victims.
And if that’s too much to ask, perhaps we should all send our complaints to Hollywood. At least they seem to understand this plot better than the JPS does.