Dear Editor,

I would have much preferred that the Jamaica Public Service’s (JPS) responses, or lack thereof, hadn’t made this letter necessary; but, alas.

My community, Mountain Spring, in the Jack’s Hill area, suffers from frequent, very long power outages to an extent that I suspect is unique in Jamaica. I have written to JPS President Kelly Tomblin several times about this matter over the last few years, but there has been no improvement.

Earlier this week, on January 8 to 9, 2017, we had a power cut that JPS could blame on the wind. In Mountain Spring the outage lasted for 19 hours. You would think the cause was obvious and several communities suffered outages, so we should just move on. We would be happy to, except that this was the third time in three months that we were having power outages of 19 hours or longer.

The October and November outages took place in fine weather, with neither wind nor rain in sight. Indeed, the epic November outage was followed within a few hours by another lasting 10 hours. JPS has offered no explanation for those very long outages, nor the myriad others with which we are plagued.

I’m sure JPS keeps records of the location, frequency, and duration of power outages, and must therefore know that there is a real problem in this area. Insult is added to injury when one tries to call the line they dedicate to emergencies. It is almost impossible to get anything other than recordings on that line. After the November outrage I visited their office to speak to Tomblin. I was prepared to spend all day there, if necessary, but Courtney Whyte took an interest in the matter and gave me his personal phone number. That is now my phone line to JPS as the problem with their emergency line persists.

It is clear to us in Mountain Spring that our lot is not typical, as our outages are neither short nor infrequent. It gives one a sense of insecurity, conveying the impression of a lackadaisical response to power outages by the provider. Since JPS tells us nothing, we are left to wonder why we have so many power cuts and why it takes so long for the company to respond.

Let’s hope the new year brings a new approach to service provision from them.

Michael Nicholson

Kingston 6

kovsky54@yahoo.com