UNIVERSAL Service Fund (USF) Chief Executive Officer Charlton McFarlane has called out nefarious individuals for stealing electricity from its community access points (CAP) sites in some communities.

Speaking at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange, McFarlane said the cost of the pilferage is substantial, with the entity now forking out up to half a million monthly for the utitility at all its sites combined, up from between $300,000 and $400,000 per month.

“There are a few communities, which I will not name, where we have had challenges with electricity theft, and I just want to appeal to my fellow countrymen that we have to treat the infrastructure like it’s ours because when we abuse it and exploit it and the maintenance and sustainability of it becomes challenged, the people who suffer are really the beneficiaries [of the service]. So long and short, stop stealing the light,” McFarlane said.

Describing the cost to the entity as significant, McFarlane said it amounts to “at least 10 to 15 per cent”.

“Because when you think about the average monthly bill increasing by seven times, that is significant for a single site,” McFarlane told Observer editors and reporters.

“So, you put infrastructure in place and the first four-five months your light bill is a dollar but you reach month six and your light bill is $7 — and that $7 is sustained for a number of years,” he said to illustrate his point.

McFarlane, who had been detailing the achievements of the USF which is now celebrating its 20th year, said the situation counts as one of the USF’s main “challenges” to date.

“I want to use this forum to appeal to our citizens: The USF does more than going into a community and set up Wi-Fi infrastructure. The USF pays for the monthly Internet bill for that infrastructure, the USF also pays for the monthly electricity bill for that infrastructure. Those are significant cost benefits to the USF in order to sustain the service that so many of our kids rely on,” he noted.

The USF — which is an agency under the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport — has a mandate to ensure access to information and communication tools to facilitate development. In 2005 the USF began operating as the Universal Access Fund Company Limited, following a Ministerial Order which mandated that all domestic telecommunications providers are obligated to collect a universal service levy on all inbound telephone calls. Today, the USF uses these funds for the execution of myriad national information and communications technology (ICT) projects and has developed more than 380 CAP sites. Under this programme, the USF equips and furnishes community centres with computers, printers, projectors and other tools for use by residents. It further equips the sites with Internet service.

In the meantime, the USF in 2020 began the provision of community Wi-Fi services and now has 389 community Wi-Fi hotspots spanning all constituencies. The intention is to roll out another 63 this year.

The USF further operates a public Wi-Fi programme whereby it goes into major town centres and beefs up the Wi-Fi coverage. To date it has 30 public Wi-Fi locations.