KINGSTON, Jamaica—The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has commissioned another 270 trucks, other vehicles and equipment along with 470 new linesmen for the hardest hit parishes, where people are living without electricity, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

Importation of the vehicles was made possible from a US$150-million loan the Government gave to the power company, which was approved in November 2025 by the Cabinet. The new linesmen, both local and overseas, will make up the 800 needed, and the trucks to just under 500.

The vehicles were officially commissioned at the JPS Hunts Bay Power Plant located on Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston, on January 2.

Witnessing a fleet being loaded with gas and sent off to other parishes in the island was Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

The prime minister said he was pleased to see the linesmen and vehicles leaving on the first working day for the new year.

“The decision to facilitate the JPS is working for the benefit of the people of Jamaica. The financing of the JPS to accelerate the recovery of our electricity grid, the decision to lend the JPS US$150 million, it has been criticised in quarters for which the criticism is not unexpected but it is important to position it against other decisions that we have made, which have turned out to be the correct decision, which has facilitated the building of resilience and the fast recovery of the economy,” Holness said.

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left), in conversation with President and Chief Executive Officer, Jamaica Public Service (JPS), Hugh Grant, at the JPS Hunt’s Bay Plant located along Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston, on January 2. The occasion was the commissioning of more vehicles and equipment imported by the power company, based on a US$150-million loan from the Government of Jamaica, to assist with the full restoration of electricity islandwide in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (JIS photo)

“Though the JPS is a private company with public interest, the JPS provides a public service. The JPS provides a public good, and that public good cannot, in any way, be disrupted. It is the foundation on which we have growth. It is the foundation for security and it is the foundation for your daily convenience and, therefore, the Government must do everything in its power to ensure that our electricity grid is up and running effectively; so, we took a decision to support the provision of a public good,” he continued.

He said the second consideration before issuing the US$150-million loan was that the Government recognised that the regulatory structure in which the JPS operates is not one that supports that optimum provision of service to the public and, therefore, the decision was taken although the licence for the JPS will soon be negotiated.

There is approximately 90 per cent islandwide electricity recovery and 70 per cent recovery of electricity in the parishes most affected.

“I think that that is a creditable response on the part of the Government and on the part of the JPS,” Holness said.

“The Government’s strategy for restoration lies heavily on the restoration of electricity, so we are driving recovery and restoration by driving the recovery of the electricity sector. You can see that that strategy has been deliberate. It has been instrumental, and the strategy has worked,” he added.

For his part, Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz, said the commissioning of the vehicles was “hope for the new year”.

“With these assets, along with the assets that came before on Christmas Day, we have almost 300 pieces of equipment in Jamaica with 470 linesmen; the 300 which just came in over Christmas and the 170 that came here shortly after the hurricane passed,” Vaz said.

Meanwhile, president and chief executive officer, JPS, Hugh Grant, said the 90 per cent of customers already reconnected on the country’s electricity grid is above industry standards two months after the unprecedented Category Five Hurricane Melissa.

“That is not by chance. It is due to the strong partnerships, the strong stakeholder engagements, and I want to make a special call-out and thanks to the Government of Jamaica for the strong partnership that allowed us to deliver on what we have been delivering on so far,” Grant said.

He said the overseas line workers being on the ground prior to the passage of the hurricane, which was part of JPS’s strategy, has led to an accelerated pace of restoration.

Also at the ceremony was Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Fayval Williams.

-JIS