AMID the devastating impact of Hurricane Beryl which has affected electricity, water and cellphone services across the island, a Government minister has urged Jamaicans to prepare for more disruptions as the tropical wave heading towards Jamaica this weekend could negatively impact restoration efforts across the island.

“There is a current weather system bearing down on Jamaica now and, because the ground is particularly saturated from days of rainfall associated with Beryl, we should monitor flood notices from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) very closely. This system is not a wind system; it is a rain system and it is one that we continue to monitor very closely. We are very clear that this rain will also have an impact on some of the recovery efforts, so we ask you to bear with us,” said minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Senator Matthew Samuda.

Samuda, speaking at a press conference held at the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport on Friday, said while stakeholders are working to improve conditions, Jamaicans should expect inconsistencies and delays due to the magnitude of damage caused by Hurricane Beryl.

“Over the coming weeks there will no doubt be moments where things appear that they are going well, and there will be moments, as you repair systems, that things don’t appear to be going well but we are giving the public [a] commitment that we will keep you informed over the coming days and the coming weeks,” he said.

Samuda said a hurricane system like Beryl is unusual at this time of the year and said that, based on the Government’s position, it is led to believe that this is a consequence of climate change and its effect on the environment.

In the meantime, chairman of Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Damian Obiglio announced during the press conference that, up to Friday morning, 45 per cent of customers now have access to electricity, which is approximately 315,000 customers across the island. He said 80 per cent of main lines were restored in the parishes of Kingston, St Andrew, St James, St Thomas, and St Catherine, but said there were major issues affecting smaller communities which, he said, the light and power company was still working on.

Obiglio urged Jamaicans to not be alarmed by power outages after initial restoration, noting that there are good reasons for supply to be cut, at times.

“Let me remind you first, that our most important responsibility as a company is safety for all the Jamaicans. Electricity kills, so everything that we do is just to keep and give a steady supply and a safe supply. If you have power and suddenly it disappears there are many reasons related to that. One is an operational issue [in which] you were served from one line and we are switching you to another line.

“Some may be caused by a transmission line that we were trying to put in service that had a hiccup and we had to take it down,” he explained.

He added that there will be plans to deal with the issue affecting the hard-hit parish of St Elizabeth, noting that due to the extent of damage there will be need for “a very dedicative and intensive action to restore service”. Obiligo said that up to Friday the company was only able to complete 20 per cent of their risk assessment work in St Elizabeth, noting that the parish suffered five times more damage compared to any other place in Jamaica. Acting president at the National Water Commission (NWC) Kevin Kerr, meanwhile, announced that only 30 per cent of customers were up to Friday with water. He said that despite the restoration of both the Mona and Constant Spring water treatment plants, 335 of the NWC’s water production facilities were still being impacted by a lack of power supply.

“St Elizabeth, Manchester [and] sections of Westmoreland are severely impacted, and those areas are served mainly by well sources, and our team, since yesterday morning, were dispatched and we have completed assessment of all of our systems and we have done all the maintenance checks to ensure that once power supply is available we can restore services to you our valid customers,” Kerr said.

As it relates to telecommunications services, general manager at Flow Jamaica Stephen Price said 66 per cent of mobile customers had service, while chief executive director at Digicel Stephen Murad announced that 60 per cent of its sites were back up after putting up a total of 170 sites.

Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Daryl Vaz used the opportunity to announce that he will not hesitate to accept overseas assistance to speed up power restoration across the island.

“I have already received calls from Caricom and from other international partners who are ready and waiting, so we will be putting in place and getting all the information that is required and putting a team to work with JPS to make sure that if there is any issue of resource challenges that can be dealt with as a matter of urgency, [but] I have been assured by the chairman that they are comfortable and satisfied,” said Vaz.