JPS executives, along with representatives of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and USAID, toured sections of the Majesty Gardens community on Friday to review the progress of a pilot project aimed at providing residents with safe, legal power supply.

Majesty Gardens is one of several communities with high levels of electricity theft, which is being targeted under JPS’ community renewal programme.JPS has partnered with USAID, JSIF and the University of Technology (UTech) to provide a unique ‘Ready Board’ solution for residents of Majesty Gardens. The Ready Board is built especially for premises that cannot accommodate traditional electrical wiring. It is certified by the Government Electrical Inspectorate and provides a socket for a bulb, along with several outlets.To facilitate the regularisation of an initial 400 residents in the pilot project, JPS built the electrical infrastructure in the community, while JSIF facilitated the social intervention and sensitisation of community residents. USAID provided the material for the Ready Boards, which were constructed by students at UTech. Two hundred and sixty three Ready Boards have already been installed, from which 54 customers have been connected. JPS is expecting to have at least 200 Majesty Gardens customers connected and enjoying safe legal supply by the end of June.— Aston Spaulding