KINGSTON, Jamaica — As of February 28, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), had restored power to 99 per cent of customers who lost electricity as a result of the impact of Hurricane Melissa last October.

Customers still without electricity are concentrated in the worst-affected parishes of Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz told a post-Cabinet media briefing Wednesday morning.

“Approximately 681,000 of 690,000 customers are back in supply,” Vaz said. He cited that the US$150 million loan the Government extended to JPS in December made the difference between almost full restoration at the end of February instead of the later projected timeline of the last quarter of 2026.

Of the 8,653 customers still without power, Vaz assured that, “JPS will continue to deploy crews while working 24-7 for the month of March and April to complete restoration.”

“These customers are primarily in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth which sustained catastrophic damage where Melissa made landfall,” he added.

The energy minister said an additional 5,000 customers are expected to be restored in the month of March. That would mean that as of the end of March, 3,600 customers will remain without electricity. He is looking forward to full restoration in April.

Westmoreland parish is currently 83 per cent restored while the breadbasket parish of St Elizabeth is at 92 per cent.

— Lynford Simpson