The Opposition on Tuesday pressed Finance Minister Fayval Williams for answers on the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) loan, arguing that a US$150-million financial commitment cannot be made without knowing whether the remaining restoration costs will be covered.

The clash unfolded in the Standing Finance Committee during its review of the Third Supplementary Estimates for the 2025/2026 financial year, including a major loan provision to JPS to speed up post-hurricane power restoration.

However, Opposition legislators asked whether the US$150-million on the table would be enough, when previous estimates suggested JPS needed roughly US$350 million to complete its restoration work.

Member of Parliament (MP) for St Mary Central Omar Newell was among the first to challenge the minister, questioning whether her earlier statements about a larger financing package were still accurate.

He reminded Williams that during a previous presentation she had linked the JPS loan to a wider facility negotiated with international partners.

“In your presentation last week, you said already our international partners have indicated that within that package that’s announced, there’s about $450 million for JPS, and what that will do is allow for a loan of $150 million to be repaid back to us so we get back the liquidity. Minister, would you agree that, just based on the questions asked earlier and the answers that you have given, that that statement is premature and the loan is now speculative at best?” Newell asked.

In response, Williams asked Newell why he thought the loan was “speculative”, explaining that it could only go ahead if JPS and the lenders reached an agreement.

Newell, however, stuck to his concern that Parliament was being asked to endorse a commitment based on expectations rather than firm arrangements.

“No, Minister, I quoted you from the Hansard where you said the $450 million, what that will do is allow for a loan of $150 million to be repaid back to us. I’m asking if that was accurate or if you would accept that that was a premature statement?” he pressed.

The debate widened as Westmoreland Eastern MP Dr Dayton Campbell pressed for clarity on the full cost of repairing JPS’s network after the blow Hurricane Melissa delivered to sections of the island on October 28, 2025.

“Minister, just a follow-up on that; despite the fanfare that is going on… Yes, of the $350 [million], the Government is willing to lend $150 [million]… but they require $350 [million] so that all the persons that are currently affected can get back light. What is the sum that is required by JPS to restore electricity to all of the persons who are currently affected?” he asked.

Williams reiterated that, according to the energy minister, US$150 million was the figure required to meet the immediate restoration target, with other details resting with JPS.

Campbell insisted that this differed from what legislators had been previously told.

“But I am not sure, Minister, that that is what we were presented with in this House. We were told that JPS required $350 million, that is what we were told… and that the Government would be loaning $150 million, so has that number been revised?” he asked further.

Williams then restated the Government’s position, tying the loan specifically to restoration timelines.

Campbell, however, argued that MPs needed a full picture of the finances, not just a political headline.

Opposition spokesman on energy Phillip Paulwell echoed the concern, arguing that if the loan was only part of a larger restoration bill, then Parliament needed assurance that the remaining funds were secured. Paulwell warned that without clarity, the Ministry of Finance risked lending taxpayers’ money without knowing whether the full cost could be met, describing it as “loan down the wicket” if the rest of the funding did not materialise.

In closing, Williams said she could not provide all the detailed figures requested, stressing that JPS is a private company and that many of the questions being raised would need to be answered by the energy minister and the utility itself.

“I would implore members to come with their questions, to ask those questions of the minister of energy at another Parliament [meeting] when he is able to answer in great detail all of those questions. What I can say is that the request that was made of us at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service was for a loan of US$150 million and you would have heard the minister of energy say that that is for restoration of 90 per cent by the end of December 2025,” Williams said.