THE Ministry of Local Government and the Jamaica Public Service have agreed on new arrangements for the payment and management of the island’s more than 105,000 streetlights.

The arrangements were arrived at during a meeting Wednesday between representatives of the Ministry of Local Government, led by Minister Desmond McKenzie, and a team from the light and power company, led by President and CEO Kelly Tomblin.

The agreement came on the heels of concerns raised by McKenzie at Tuesday’s meeting of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC). He had concerns about the $3-billion electricity bill the JPS says is owed by the Government for street lighting.

McKenzie raised the issue in light of ongoing complaints from councillors and residents islandwide about out-of-service street lights.

At the same time, the local government minister had asked the light and power company to give a timeline for the retrofitting of street lamps with energy-saving bulbs.

The minister also told the KSAC that he would also be pushing for a review of an agreement the former Government signed with the JPS, granting the company full and total control of streetlights.

Under the current agreement, the councils have no authority to question any of the JPS’ actions regarding allocation or the location of street lights.

“The councils only have to pay the bills, I’ll never accept that,” McKenzie said.

The minister said that at a recent meeting with Dr Andrew Wheatley, the minister of science, energy, and technology, he and a ministry team were told that the previous Government signed the agreement with the JPS on Janaury 27, 2015.

He said that the then local government minister had raised concerns about the issue, but the attorney general advised that with the privatisation of the JPS the company owned all street lights.

“The country is paying the JPS for a service they are not offering. Sixty per cent of the street lights in my own constituency are not working. It’s a national problem that needs urgent attention,” McKenzie told the KSAC meeting. The lack of street lights, he said, was contributing to crime in rural and urban communities.

He said he would hold discussions with the JPS to try to find the best solution to the problem.

“We are going to do everything to get them working. We must have a time table from the JPS,” McKenzie said, adding that he would also be taking the matter to Cabinet.

McKenzie, meanwhile, said he was told that an audit was done of working street lights but he had not yet seen the document.

People’s National Party (PNP) Councillor Eugene Kelly, in a question-and-answer-period at the meeting, alleged that the JPS audit had been done during the daytime. “It was a waste of time,” Kelly said.

Councillor Venesha Phillips (PNP, Papine Division) said that she was disturbed to learn that all the KSAC “is to do is pay the JPS bill”.

She said that a number of the street lights in her division have not been working and attributed that to rapes and robberies committed against university students. She said that the disabled community of Cheshire in the division also did not have adequate street lighting.

At Wednesday’s meeting, it was agreed that:

• JPS would provide the ministry with monthly break-out reports on street lights repaired and installed on a community-by-community basis;

• JPS parish managers would attend the current series of Day-in-Council meetings being held by Minister McKenzie islandwide;

• A dedicated Street light Help Desk will be established in the minister’s office in the local government ministry;

• Monthly meetings will be held between both parties in a spirit of co-operation to develop the framework;

• Plans for the implementation of the replacement of existing inefficient street lights with a smart LED-based streetlight system will be advanced; and

• The two entities will explore future collaboration on technological enhancements.

Meanwhile, while highlighting the financial challenges being experienced by the Government, McKenzie gave a commitment to honour the financial obligations on a scheduled basis to be worked out between both parties in ongoing discussions.

It was also disclosed that the JPS had rolled out a major programme to improve the provision of electricity services and that it had repaired more than 30,000 street lights between 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.