Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to Jamaica Public Service:

On behalf of the Portmore All Community Development Committees (CDCs) and the valued customers of Portmore, we have been very pleased with the presence of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) in the area over the years and the substantial customer service programmes that were successfully implemented for the comfort and convenience of both residential and commercial consumers of electricity in Portmore.

We are, however, very disheartened by your announcement of the decision to close the Portmore JPS office by March 8, 2021.

While we are confident that you must have given it serious thought, we would like to understand better the driving forces behind this decision and, more importantly, the systems and procedures that will be implemented to not further inconvenience your customers.

We would therefore like to know the following:

1) What percentage of the customers in Portmore still transact business in-office?

2) What is the impact of the pandemic on the reduction of people coming to do business in-office?

3) Reaching your call centre has been notoriously problematic and there has been no noticeable improvement. What is the plan to improve this?

4) Your new app is an improvement, but the awareness and utilisation levels seem low from our polling. How will this be addressed to result in improved reach to customers?

5) Please advise us which services will require in-person office visits and explain how these will be accommodated.

6) What are your recommendations for addressing the needs of many of our senior citizens who are usually not confident in transacting their business on cellphones and/or tablets?

The suggested alternative of visiting either the Spanish Town Office or Ruthven Road offices is unacceptable based on distance and inadequate parking facilities, especially at the Spanish Town office.

We are hereby asking you to do two important things:

1) Tailor your message to specifically address the impact the closure of your facilities will have on our community.

2) Give us a written commitment and explanation of how you intend to improve (not diminish) the service to this community, or otherwise reverse this decision until you can do so.

We do understand the importance of a strong utility, and hope you understand the importance of loyal customers to your business.

We appreciate your stated commitment to finding ways of servicing us better and look forward to hearing more from you soon.

Jennifer Lee

Portmore All CDCs

St Catherine

portmoreleadershipcouncil@gmail.com