JPS ups power restoration effort
...72 specialised vehicles arrive in Montego Bay
JAMAICA Public Service Company (JPS) received another major boost to its electricity restoration effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa with the arrival on Sunday of 72 specialised vehicles.
The vehicles — comprising bucket trucks, diggers, pole trailers, and pick-ups — were offloaded at Freeport, Montego Bay, St James, as part of equipment to be used by the recently arrived Holland Power Services crews.
“The newly deployed assets will be assigned primarily to Westmoreland and other areas of western Jamaica where damage to the electricity network was most severe and where rebuilding and restoration activities remain most intense, due to the acute damage inflicted by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa,” JPS said in a news release on Monday.
This set of vehicles, JPS explained, brings to roughly 160 the number of specialised vehicles brought into the island since Melissa hit on October 28, 2025.
Detommie Fuller, manager for business continuity resiliency and contract management at JPS and who was on the ground when the specialised vehicles came off the port, noted that the additional fleet would help ensure that the newly arrived linemen are fully resourced as they take on the task, shoulder to shoulder, with Jamaican, Caribbean, and other international crews to restore power to the remaining 12 per cent of JPS customers.
Holland Power Services is one of two contracting firms which JPS had engaged as part of its business continuity strategy in February 2025, in a proactive move to prepare for the hurricane season. The other firm was Tempest.
The power company said that as part of the proactive plan it flew in several team members days before Melissa made landfall, so repairs could commence immediately after the Government gave the signal that restoration work could begin.
A third firm, Greystone, was added to the line-up after the enormous scale of the damage became apparent. Both Greystone and Holland have now been added to the fleets on the ground, due to the support of the Government of Jamaica which has aided in bringing in additional crews required to expedite the recovery efforts.
JPS Manager for Business Continuity Resiliency and Contract Management Detommie Fuller (right) in discussion with Holland Power Services executives (from left) President Steve Hanson; Director of Safety Nick Vermette; and Director of Operations Kris Seamans at the port in Montego Bay on Sunday.
