MAJESTY Gardens residents no longer have to hide from representatives of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) as they are now legally connected to the company’s power grid through the use of ‘Ready Board’.

The ready board — which is a piece of board with a breaker, a bulb, switch and socket — is built especially for premises that cannot accommodate traditional electrical wiring. With the solution being made available in Majesty Gardens, St Andrew, 400 residents can now connect their appliances to legal electricity — a massive jump from the three legal connections in the community in 2013.

JPS launched the Ready Board Electrification Demonstration pilot programme in 2015 through a partnership with the USAID. Valued at approximately $20 million, the programme is geared towards reducing electricity theft, wastage and risk of electrocution.

According to the World Bank and JPS, approximately 18 per cent of the electricity produced on the island is lost to theft — either through illegal connections or tampering with the meter.

The 326 ready boards that have been installed in the community, and were made by University of Technology, Jamaica engineering students, have been approved by the Government Electrical Inspectorate

On Tuesday, JPS marked a milestone of electricity regularisation when it introduced the ‘Ready Board Viewing in home’.

Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) Managing Director Omar Sweeney said he was pleased with the initiative.

“Firstly, let me express profound gratitude to our supporting partners: The USAID for being a committed and generous funding partner, the Jamaica Public Service for their foresight in enabling the residents to access an affordable electricity plan, the University of Technology, Jamaica for assembling this technical innovation which is in keeping with international standards, and finally, the hard-working project implementation team at JSIF,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney also urged the residents to encourage their neighbours to become a part of the transformation process and get connected to the JPS grid by utilising the prepaid meter system, which he said has proven to be quite cost-effective.

In the meantime, USAID Director of Environment and Health Sara Buchanan said, through the ready board, residents would now have access to safe, reliable electricity that is essential for both quality of life and economic development.

Raphel Young, who has been residing in the community for 60 years, told the Jamaica Observer that he has been using a kerosene lamp all his life.

An overwhelmed Young said the ready board gave him the opportunity to watch news and some of his favourite television programmes.

“Mi buy $500 credit and it last mi for two months. As mi watch news and Hill and Gully Ride and so mi plug out back the TV,” Young said.

Another resident, 23-year-old Lennox Lee, who was always fearful when he connected his appliances to illegal electricity in the past, told the Observer that the power company’s pay-as-you-go system is a good initiative.

“I feel much better to know that my appliances won’t burn up, and they even work better,” Lee said.

Recalling a conversation with a resident who vowed to steal electricity until “thy Kingdom come”, community facilitator Chisena Campbell told the Observer that that particular resident is now a legal JPS customer.

“It is amazing because I am surprised that we have been stealing light for most of my years, and now that we have regularised majority of the community it has been an inspiration. It has been really, really good, persons really appreciate it and are signing up, getting their systems up and ready,” 38-year-old Campbell said.

Like Young, Campbell said $500 credit, using the pay-as-you-go system, can last for three weeks depending on the number of appliances a customer has, as well as how they are used.