Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says the full force of the law must be brought to bear on persons who are minded to use the cover of Tropical Storm Melissa to steal or damage equipment used by telecoms providers.

Speaking at a Jamaica House press briefing Friday afternoon, Holness noted that during Hurricane Beryl which impacted the country in July 2024, “the loss of telecommunications was not so much because of the impact of the hurricane itself but there was significant theft of fuel and equipment relating to telecommunications”.

He reminded that the Government has indicated its intent to amend the relevant law “and to have stiffer penalties, and to criminalise some of these acts, because they do impact the entire economy and should be treated with more severely”.

Continuing, he said, “In lieu of the amendments to the law, the security forces have been alerted that special attention ought to be paid to these critical infrastructure which are necessary for the continuity of government, and for the continuity of business, and indeed for public safety”.

He told the Commissioner of Police, Dr Kevin Blake who had earlier addressed the press briefing that, ”You have been tasked …to ensure that there is no break in our telecommunications and to ensure that these criminals who would want to take advantage of the disaster to exploit our telecommunications infrastructure, that they are dealt with in the harshest way”.