NEGRIL, WESTMORELAND — Complaining that they are feeling the impact in their pockets, stakeholders in the resort town of Negril have appealed to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) for help in addressing what they say is substandard service being offered by providers.

Among their concerns are high electricity bills, poor-quality electricity service, inconsistent water supply, and spotty Internet. These were among the issues brought to the fore during a virtual forum with OUR representatives and stakeholders in western Jamaica last week Thursday.

According to Negril Chamber of Commerce Director Sophia Grizzle Roumel, while the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) has done some noticeable improvement work in the area, the service remains terrible.

“The quality of the electricity that we receive is killing us; we have to replace equipment. You know, they tell us we need to write and all of that but, you know, it’s very onerous so I am not sure how much you can do about the quality that we get. It’s something we’ve had problems with for many, many years. They have upgraded some of their systems a bit but what we are still getting is really terrible,” Grizzle Roumel complained to the OUR representatives at the meeting.

The frequent repair bills plus the high cost of electricity, she said, make it difficult for local properties to be competitive at the regional level. She complained that the western end of the country feels abandoned by the OUR.

“I’m not sure if other parts of Jamaica suffer from the same problems but it’s very difficult to do business when you see your electricity bill rising every month, you see your equipment breaking down every month, and you’re trying to attract visitors to your island at rates that are competitive to other countries,” lamented Grizzle Roumel.

The OUR’s senior regulator of engineering, Courtney Francis advised her that they are aware of the challenges.

“Over the last few years we have been looking into the quality of service situation in that part of the island. We have identified a number of issues that have been problematic interference so we are doing a deeper investigation into that,” assured Francis.

In responding to the concerns raised, JPS operations area manager for distribution in the western end of the island, Detommi Sergeant Fuller outlined that the biggest challenge the company faces in providing service to resort areas is granting hoteliers’ requests not to cut away too much of the vegetation while at the same time keeping power lines free from encumbrances.

“So, for example… we have to leave when we go to cut a tree that is impacting the line that’s causing the trips in the power, etc. For example, the hotels may be saying, ‘This is part of my beautification that attracts my guests.’ Finding that balance is one of the challenges we face in the hotel sector,” explained Fuller.

She promised that there will be additional improvements made over time but cautioned that perfection will never be achieved.

The issue of frequent outages in Internet service was placed on the table by president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourists Association’s (JHTA) Negril Chapter, Ann Chen. Properties, she pointed out, include Internet service as part of their marketing, and guests expect them to deliver.

“It’s a product that we sell to our guests. We may get away with a water outage for a couple of hours but we don’t get away with Internet outages. When we have Internet outages we have to compensate our guests,” she said.

OUR deputy director general with oversight for the telecommunications sector, Maurice Charvis responded that complaints about the quality of service provided by the telecoms are not unique to Negril and the regulatory body is taking a holistic approach to the concerns.

“We are developing our service rules to govern that sector. Just like how the electricity and the water sector have guaranteed standards, we are also developing guaranteed standards for the telecommunications sector so the operators will be held more accountable and compensate you when they prevent you from offering the service,” he explained while also noting that the telecommunications industry is already heavily regulated.