TREASURE BEACH, St Elizabeth — With hundreds of people relying on the Breds Foundation office here for power and connectivity for weeks in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, ATL donated a solar system for the facility regarded as a “lifeline” in the area.

ATL General Manger Brad Wong said the donation of the $2-million 4KW Hybrid Solar Solution is vital to the facility’s efficiency.“We came down here after the hurricane and we saw devastation, lots of downed lines, trees,” he said. “We saw that the Breds Foundation was at the centre of the giving out of relief supplies. They were using a small generator for power because there was no light, internet, or anything. This was like the lifeline of this community for the distribution of food and aid,” added Wong.

He told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday that ATL decided to donate and commission the solar system even as the company applauded the resilience of St Elizabeth residents in the aftermath of the Category 4 hurricane. “We thought about how we can help the Breds Foundation and the people of Treasure Beach in this time, and the best way we thought of doing is to give them some power from the sun,” Wong said.“The four-kilowatt solar battery system allows them to power their office throughout the day. They have a battery backup so that they have power at night [and] will no longer have to use a generator and buy gas,” added Wong.He said the system, which was commissioned two weeks ago, is a lifetime investment. “For ATL, community support is a big part of what we do; Treasure Beach has supported us. Jakes has been a very good customer of ours, so in light of all the devastation it is imperative of us to give back as a corporate company to give back to the community,” he said. Adina Parchment, director of Breds Foundation and maintenance manager at Jakes, said hundreds of residents benefit from the facility. “People from Great Bay, Billy’s Bay, Beacon, Fort Charles, as far as Flagaman, came here to have access to the internet and to charge their phones, because they were not able to get in touch with their relatives,” she said. “We have had long lines of people, up to 500 people on some days, trying to get in touch with their families. We offered them internet service through a Starlink service that we have, because up to now [local] internet is not back in the area. We are extremely grateful to ATL for this great gift that we have received,” she added. “For us, this is a huge deal, because we won’t be paying [high] electricity bills for our offices any more. What we do here is like a homework centre for students and persons are able to use the space for computer-related projects,” she said.“We will continue to be grateful, because this will help us a lot. We are still in the hurricane season, so we have this system as a backup for anything that is coming for the rest of the season,” added Parchment.She said the Breds Foundation was also partnering with Food For the Poor to assist in rebuilding roofs damaged during the storm.“We have a goal of trying to help with 500 roofs in the community, so the Food For the Poor office here is being used as the distribution centre for the supplies for that, so zinc, plywood, and lumber comes out of here,” said Parchment.