IN the wake of last week’s islandwide blackout, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz says future electricity licences will include mandatory compensation provisions, insisting that “sorry” is not enough for customers and businesses that suffered losses.

Speaking in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Vaz said the June 5 outage had exposed significant gaps in Jamaica’s electricity regulatory framework, noting that there is currently no legal provision requiring compensation for consumers affected by major power failures.

The minister said the issue had become even more pressing given the scale of disruption caused by the outage, which left households, businesses, and public institutions across the island without electricity.

“I have consistently maintained that businesses and Jamaicans have suffered demonstrable losses because of an outage of this magnitude. The issue of compensation must be seriously addressed and considered by the Jamaica Public Service Company…The commitment that I’m making to you is that the new licence and the new Act that will go with the licence will have mandatory compensatory measures and sanctions,” Vaz said during the sitting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Vaz argued that many small operators, including vendors and event promoters, suffered significant financial losses during the outage and should not simply be left with an apology.

“What do you say? Sorry? Sorry can’t help them to send their child back to school Monday morning when they have spent the money to invest and they can’t get a return,” he said.

He also renewed his criticism of aspects of the current regulatory framework, pointing to situations in which customers whose appliances are damaged by power surges face lengthy claims processes that often end without compensation.

In the meantime, Opposition Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Eastern Dr Dayton Campbell suggested that the Government explore ways to assist event promoters and others who lost money because activities scheduled for the blackout weekend could not proceed.

Campbell proposed that permits already approved for events be transferred to future dates rather than requiring affected individuals to pay again.

Responding, Vaz described the proposal as “an absolute, reasonable, rational” suggestion and said he expected discussions with the Ministry of Local Government on the matter.

“They can use it at another time for another event, which means that the municipal corporation doesn’t have to find the money to refund,” Vaz said.

The blackout occurred on June 5 and affected customers across the island. A preliminary report has already been submitted by the Jamaica Public Service Company, while a final report is expected to be provided to the Office of Utilities Regulation as investigations continue into the cause of the outage.