LETTER OF THE DAY - Police doing little to curb electricity theft
Published:Monday | August 5, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Last Friday (August 2, 2013), the Letter of the Day chided the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) for not being serious about electricity theft. Several people commented on the letter and joined their voices in lambasting JPS.
However, the last time I checked, JPS was not in the law-enforcement business. They are in the business of power generation and distribution.
It is the police, National Security Minister Peter Bunting and Commissioner Owen Ellington who are supposed to be law enforcers. JPS cannot lock up anybody.
With entire communities stealing electricity wholesale, there is little JPS can do to curb this epidemic on its own. The power company has beseeched the police for assistance and has even purchased vehicles for the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
But our police appear to be doing little more than providing armed escort for the JPS disconnection teams. On many occasions, police drive into communities with the JPS team, stand by as they take down the illegal connections, then jump into their vehicles and drive off. As they turn the corner, up go the wires again.
Police even walk by illegal connections right outside some stations every day and do nothing. Are they under orders, or are they just blind?
COLIN WHEELER