AFTER four years at the helm of a project geared towards regularising the electricity supply of inner-city residents, the Urban Electricity Regularisation Programme (UERP) is yet to meet its target of enlisting 800 households, forcing a delay in the launch of its second phase.

However, according to Keith Garvey, manager for the Rural Electrification Programme (REP) under which the UERP falls, the delay is not through lack of effort on the part of his staff, but rather the preference of some inner-city residents to get electricity illegally.

“People come on much slower because most of the persons that we are targeting in the inner-city areas are actually receiving electricity through some other informal means. So you have to do more convincing. What you do find is that when you have your meeting everybody is coming on, but when the payments are to be made it is different,” he told the Observer.

The UERP programme has been marketed to some 1,618 households, but currently only 602 have shown intention of regularising.

“They can find the money to buy the phone cards and the bling-bling to go to the various dances so they can find the money,” he said. “Out of the 800, 602 have paid up, we are committed to 602 so far.”

Under the UERP, inner-city residents are initially required to pay 10 per cent of the approximately $23,000 needed to completely wire their houses. The balance is repaid monthly over four years – at no interest – in addition to the monthly bill for the household’s energy consumption. The project, Garvey said, tried to cater to groups of persons in an effort to maximise its scope of success.

“We have had community meetings and we have been out into various communities and the response has been that 1,618 houses have been marketed. but marketing it is one and selling it is one, [and] when the payment is to be made that is where our main challenge is, ” Garvey said.

Some communities – including Belrock in Olympic Gardens, McGregor Gully, Grants Pen, Pryce Lane, Mexico in Arnett Gardens, 67 Waltham Park Road, Majestic Gardens and Mandela Pathway – have reacted positively, he said.

“We personally think that it (UERP) is something that has worked. It shows that in these communities it definitely can work,” Garvey said, adding that the funds paid by the residents towards the wiring was returned into a revolving fund to assist new communities in regularising their electricity supply.

The second phase of the UERP project will see the monitoring of the enlisited households to determine the project’s long-term feasibility.

In the meantime, the REP is looking into expanding its offerings as the country moves closer towards providing access to all householders. At present between 90 to 92 per cent of the country is covered, and this should reach 96 per cent after five years.

“A commitment has been made by the government to see to it that all Jamaicans have access to electricity in the next five years. Some $600,000 is being looked at to come the REP way in order to bring us up to about 96-97 per cent,” Garvey said adding that there are still some 22,000 householders yet to benefit from the REP.