150 households in Steer Town, St Ann being wired for electricity
Published:Sunday | June 6, 2021 | 11:48 AM
One hundred and fifty households in Steer Town, St Ann are being wired for connection to the national electricity grid.
The work is being done under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund's (JSIF) $189 million Community Electrification Project, which is funded by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The project forms part of the Government's efforts to provide vulnerable households with electricity.
Project officer at JSIF, Dane McLean, told JIS News that $38 million is being spent to support the wiring of homes in Steer Town and four other communities across the island, which will be completed during the first phase.
He informed that the work in Steer Town started on May 13 and is to be completed within six weeks.
“The project [in Steer Town] is 35 per cent complete to date, so we are pretty much on track to complete the 150 units within the six weeks,” said McLean.
“Once we wire them, we will engage the Government Electrical Inspectorate, who will come and inspect the installation to make sure they are safe,” he noted.
McLean said that once approved, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), through its Community Renewal Unit, will sign contracts with the householders for them to become regularised.
He informed that the community electrification project is also providing employment for members of the Steer Town community.
“Part of the methodology of implementation is to engage the community resource and so we currently have 10 community electricians employed,” he said.
McLean told JIS News that the electricity regularisation work in Steer Town follows intervention in the area under the Integrated Community Development Programme (ICDP), which recently came to a close.
Under ICDP, the community benefited from zinc fence substitution and the improvement of road and water infrastructure.
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