TWO weeks after Hurricane Melissa’s onslaught on Jamaica, 64 per cent of Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) customers now have electricity restored, the firm’s president and CEO Hugh Grant revealed Tuesday, while promising to provide detailed restoration timelines for the remaining affected areas by the end of this week.

Speaking at a special press briefing called by the Government to give updates on the ongoing recovery efforts, Grant described the restoration completed so far as “a solid achievement given the scale of destruction”.

He noted that more than 300,000 customers have been reconnected since Hurricane Melissa left large sections of the island without power.

However, he noted that the devastation caused by the storm was far worse on the ground than any aerial view could capture.

“I had an opportunity first-hand this weekend to go to the western region, and let me tell you, it’s a different thing when you see it in person than when you see it from a helicopter. It’s truly a devastation,” Grant said.

But despite the immense damage, he assured that JPS remains committed to restoring power to all its customers as quickly as possible.

“You may have recalled that I shared that prior to the hurricane we brought in 71 overseas line workers. I’m pleased to share that since the passage of the hurricane, we have brought in, additionally, more than 200 line workers to help with the safe and timely restoration. In addition to that, we are also bringing in additional vehicles, bucket trucks, hole digging trucks, that are expected to be here by this weekend. This will also be a key resource to help in expediting our restoration activities safely and timely,” he announced.

Grant noted that while teams have made significant progress in the eastern and central parishes, the level of destruction in the west has forced the company to go beyond simple repairs.

“It’s a redesign and rebuild of our facilities. We have seen whereby landslides have caused poles and other infrastructure to be significantly damaged, and frankly, we have to now re-route some of our facilities and redesign to facilitate restoration. The good news is, we’re making progress. Our strategy is to first restore critical services like hospitals and water pumps and town centres in these key economic zones,” he said.

However, he highlighted several key successes, including the restoration of power to Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James, St Ann’s Bay Hospital, the Ocho Rios Port and Dunn’s River Falls, both in St Ann.

Grant also pointed to significant advances in St Elizabeth, where JPS managed to restore electricity to Junction and Southfield.

“We did this by doing some creative things on the distribution system to facilitate St Elizabeth being supplied from Manchester. There is, however, a limitation to that as we have built out in St Elizabeth to a stage now whereby to go further you will need the critical high-voltage transmission to be restored and that has been significantly damaged,” he said.

In St James, he said, the company has already restored electricity to several major facilities, helping to jump-start the local economy.

“We have also restored some significant NWC [National Water Commission] pumps in the parish of St James. The Catherine Mount and Reading NWC pumps are now in service. We have also restored the Fairview Shopping Centre and the Fairview community in St James, so those people now are seeing the light,” Grant reported.

Among the most symbolic milestones, he said, was the restoration of electricity to Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. He further announced that Falmouth, Trelawny, would soon see electricity return to key locations.

“This week, power will be in Trelawny; we will have power in Falmouth town, Falmouth Hospital, and also the pier whereby we are supporting the return of cruise ships to that particular pier,” he promised, adding that power will be in Hanover and Westmoreland in the next two weeks.

As the company continues to rebuild, Grant pledged transparency and consistency in communication, promising a more detailed parish-by-parish restoration update later this week.

“Be reassured that we are committed to be steadfast and strategic in our restoration activities. We are making progress and as we make greater progress with our damage assessments, by the end of this week, I will be giving you more detailed updates in terms of restoration timelines and parishes and communities,” he said.

Jamaica Public Service Company president and CEO Hugh Grant smiles before reporting to the country on Tuesday that electricity has been restored to 64 per cent of the company’s customers since the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Grant shared the information at the media briefing called by the Government at the Office of the Prime Minister to update the country on the hurricane recovery efforts. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)