KINGSTON, Jamaica — As of 5:00 am today, electricity has been restored to approximately 500,000 of 700,000 customers following the all-island electricity outage Friday night.

This update was provided by Energy Minister Daryl Vaz, on advice from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).

Vaz noted that he has been further advised that service to JPS customers who remain disconnected will be restored during the course of the morning.

He has called the leadership of JPS to an emergency meeting, which is scheduled for 2:00 pm and which will be followed by a media conference at the JPS Command Centre.

“I have monitored developments throughout the night concerning the all-island outage. I have advised the leadership of the JPS that the Government of Jamaica finds the all-island electricity outage to be totally unacceptable and expects that electricity will be restored to all customers safely and as quickly as possible,” said Vaz.

“The outage and protracted delay in restoration cannot be tolerated. JPS must do better. A thorough investigation into the outage will take place,” he added.

The energy minister also noted that the company had sent preliminary word of the major disruption to its systems, which occurred following heightened lightning activity across sections of the island. He expects to be updated further about the cause of the outage and the way forward to limit the chance of a recurrence of an all-island electricity outage.

He emphasised that the Government recognises the significant inconvenience the all-island outage has caused and has instructed the JPS to leave no stone unturned in ensuring restoration takes place as quickly as possible.

Vaz also recognised the effort of workers employed to the JPS who responded throughout the night, and who continue to work during the course of today, to ensure that as many customers as possible are re-connected in the shortest possible time.