Dear Editor,

On September 14, 2019 there was a crash involving a bus and pickup just outside of the town of Hope Bay in Portland. The incident damaged a utility pole and this resulted in the disruption of Internet service in the adjacent community of Hermitage Farms. This community houses Sea Bell, a small hotel, multiple guest houses, and people like me who depend heavily on the Internet.

I am a software developer for 40 years who has recently relocated from Kingston with the intention to develop the software industry in the heartlands of Jamaica.

When the problem was reported to FLOW, who is the sole provider of affordable wired service in this area, we were advised that the problem may take up to three months to be resolved. This is beyond unacceptable. The Internet must be considered an essential service. Today there are many businesses that cannot function without the Internet, and must remain closed if the service is unavailable.

To compound the problem, it would appear that vandals took off with a portion of the electrical cable which was now easy pickings for our scrap metal vultures. Based on anecdotal evidence it would appear that this may be the major factor in FLOW’s slow response to rectifying the solution, maybe as an ill-conceived deterrent to these criminal activities. Such action by Jamaica Public Services to punish whole communities for electrical theft was rightfully blocked by the Government.

I am particularly incensed by FLOW’s lack of urgency, which has brought into focus our city-centric development view of Jamaica. Had the problem occurred in Kingston “heads would roll” after the second day.

The Internet is already providing jobs and growth in this and other areas considered off-the-map in the form of the rapidly growing bed and breakfast tourism. Today these lifeline businesses are suffering.

We call on FLOW, Minister Daryl Vaz, the entire Government, and the Office of Utilities Regulations to rectify the problem immediately, and further to implement laws that define the Internet as an essential service, so this type of lame, nonchalant response can be a thing of the past.

Duncan Soares

Hope Bay PO

Portland

duncansoares@gmail.com