KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Public Service has reported that rampant illegal connections in the Rocky Point community of Clarendon, has resulted in several streetlights malfunctioning.

The company said in a release that, late last year, it sought to stem the high rate of illegal connections in the area, by implementing the Residential Advanced Metering Infrastructure (RAMI), among other measures.

The RAMI system facilitates the remote reading of meters, as well as remote connection and disconnection.

According to the release, residents are unable to use throw ups to connect to the JPS network with the configuration of the RAMI system. Consequently people have sought to breach the streetlights to gain power supply. This has led to the short circuiting of the lights, which were not designed to supply electricity for multiple household needs, JPS said.

“While the company has been working hard to address the situation, residents are continuing to tamper with the lights, causing them to repeatedly malfunction” the release added.

JPS is appealing to residents to desist from these activities, which they say not only affect the quality of power supply they receive, but also result in damage to the street lighting infrastructure which is critical to security.