MONTEGO BAY, St James — Canadian Mitchell Masse is no novice to restoring electricity after a disaster but he knows his latest assignment will not be easy. He’s one of 117 line workers who arrived in Jamaica Wednesday night, part of a push to tackle some of the most challenging work needed to get thousands of Jamaica Public Service Co Ltd (JPS) customers back on the grid.

“It is going to be the biggest one [task] for me. The biggest one. I was in Florida a few years ago for 21 days, but this one is going to be the biggest,” Masse told the Jamaica Observer.

He is visiting Jamaica for the first time. He and his colleagues arrived at Sangster International Airport in St James via a US private chartered flight, Sunrise Airlines, shortly after 9:00 pm Wednesday.

The group follows a barge of 67 that arrived Monday and 44 on Tuesday.

Another barge of 120 is expected on the island next Tuesday. A flight with more than 200 pieces of equipment is expected on the island between the 24th and the 25th. It’s all part of Jamaica’s ongoing effort to recover from Hurricane Melissa which ravaged sections of the country on October 28.

“JPS is living up to their commitment based on the arrangement and understanding we have with the funds that we have provided…We’re in the Christmas season, and the logistics of coordinating and getting everything done, still has been done in record time,” stated Minister of Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Daryl Vaz.

“We only got Cabinet approval two Mondays ago, and JPS only got approval from their board last week. So to be in this position tonight is huge, and it is a recommitment of us being able to give the people light: some by Christmas, some by new year, and the majority by middle of January to the end of January,” he added.

Vaz stressed that work will continue during the holidays, both for his team and the JPS.

“Right now, this is the focus —24/7— until such time as the people get light. JPS is living up to their end of the bargain, the Government has provided the commitment of the funding, and you’re seeing the results already,” said the minister.

He was referencing a controversial US$150-million loan the Government of Jamaica made available to JPS to help get the line workers here.

After a day of orientation the barge of Canadians who arrived Wednesday night is expected to start working Friday alongside the JPS team within the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, and St Elizabeth.

“We have a clear plan where these particular line workers came in with their tools already. The vehicles are expected to get here on the 24th and the 25th. We have poles that will be installed by these workers who will be climbing poles and installing hardware particularly in areas which are hard to access by some of the larger vehicles. And, these are mostly in western parishes…,” explained JPS President and CEO Hugh Grant.

“We will orientate them and then we will go ahead and mobilise them so that they can work safely to facilitate timely restoration, particularly for the holiday season as we know it is a festive season and people are looking forward to being with their families and loved ones in the midst of this devastation,” he added.

Grant explained the state of the network in the five parishes.

“In reality, in those parishes, what we’re seeing is a redesign and a rebuild, and not restoration, just given the devastation. You have multiple hundreds of poles that are actually down, and some of them still in water. So we’re actually redesigning and rerouting some of those circuits, which take additional resources and additional equipment in order to get it done as safely and as timely as possible,” he said.

According to Grant, more than 50 days after the storm, power has been restored to 84 per cent of JPS customers.

“It’s not by chance; it’s due to us working 24/7, having the right processes, the right frameworks in, and having our people continue to go above and beyond to safely and reliably deliver quality of power to you, our valued customers,” said the JPS president and CEO.

Grant said the JPS team has a solid understanding of the scope of the work to be done now that there is additional help from overseas.

“We have been in all communities. We have done the damage assessment in all the communities… We have had the presence, walked the line, put our eyes on it, and we know what the damage is,” he assured.

“We have now taken that back and have now done our plan to then go ahead and execute. Having additional resources will allow us to add these resources to the plan to go ahead and execute those… We’re working with the emergency operation centres and the people in the communities and partners as we go forward with the restoration,” added Grant.

Canadian line worker Mitchell Masse shortly after arriving at Sangster International Airport Wednesday night. (Photo: Anthony Lewis)