CONSPIRACY theories that last Friday night’s all-island power outage was due to the arrival of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to Jamaica and a fire at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) headquarters were shut down by Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport Daryl Vaz, who said the claims were ludicrous and fake news.

Addressing a press conference with representatives of Jamaica Public Service (JPS), on Saturday, to provide an update on the progress to restore power to the island, Vaz assured citizens that the outage was due to inclement weather which resulted in a system failure.

“I want to make it very clear at this point that it was a system failure of the JPS, and to make sure that I state clearly that all of the conspiracy theories that have been making the [rounds] are fake news. I will not even repeat some of them because they are so ludicrous. This was a simple, or should I say, a straightforward system breakdown within the JPS apparatus,” insisted Vaz.

According to JPS CEO Hugh Grant, inclement weather resulted in the loss of five transmission lines emanating from significant substations in the Corporate Area. A cascading effect, he said, further caused a loss of generation across the entire island and resulted in the shutdown of the entire grid.

The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, and the lead ship of its class. It is one of the largest warships in the world, known for its nuclear-powered engines and its significant size, spanning 1,092 feet.

Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport Daryl Vaz (left) and Jamaica Public Service President and CEO Hugh Grant look at a cell phone ahead of a joint press briefing at JPS Corporate Offce in New Kingston on Saturday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

According to the US Embassy — and several Jamaican Government officials — the arrival of the vessel highlights the strength of expanded US-Jamaica security cooperation under President Donald Trump, particularly the partnership in maritime security.

It was also explained that the vessel is on its 11th iteration of the Southern Seas tour, which is known for fostering goodwill and strengthening maritime partnerships throughout the region.

However, upon the warship’s arrival last week, many Jamaicans expressed concern about its presence, especially amid highly strained US-Cuba relations following intensified sanction — including a fuel blockade — the US indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, and US officials calling Cuba a failed State.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Kamina Johnson Smith assured Jamaicans that the American aircraft carrier was not part of a larger plot by the United States of America to intimidate or launch military action on Cuba. However, the islandwide blackout further fuelled the conspiracy theories and many have questioned the timing of the power outage.

Aircraft on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz, which docked at the Kingston Freeport Terminal last week. (Photo: JIS)

Jamaicans on social media also claimed that last Friday’s fire at Up Park Camp is linked to the power outage, another claim that was dismissed by both Vaz and Grant.

“The vessel is on its way to Florida now [Saturday afternoon] to go up to New York. The vessel left here at 8 o’clock yesterday [Friday] morning. So, again, you know us Jamaicans, we love the excitement and the suss, but the fact of the matter is, I mean it’s ludicrous, similar to the JDF fire earlier. Thankfully, nobody was injured. Fires take place every day, so it’s just the timing of the two things, but I can say, definitively, that as the [JPS] president has said, a system failure is the cause of the all-island power outage,” Vaz assured.

Grant further confirmed that the fire was not linked to the outage, responding, “No” to questions posed on whether the two incidents were connected.

Reports are that a fire broke out at the barracks area of Up Park Camp last Friday night. The JDF Fire Unit as well as the Rollington Town, Half-Way-Tree, York Park, Trench Town, and Spanish Town fire stations responded swiftly and worked collaboratively to contain the blaze, the JDF said in a release.

The fire has since been successfully extinguished.