Power back on Dalling St but residents still fuming
Published:Thursday | June 9, 2022 | 12:14 AM
Residents of Dalling Street in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, are expressing joy at the restoration of electricity to their community but are demanding answers from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) regarding compensation for lost livelihoods over four days of outages.
Householders protested Wednesday morning against the cessation of electricity supply to the street since Sunday, arguing that they have been forced to dump hundreds of thousand dollars worth of meat and other groceries that required refrigeration.
“Who is going to be responsible to give we back all the money worth a items which we lose?” asked a woman who gave her name as Velma.
“A whole heap a we lose we supermarket goods, milk, juice, fish, meat, and vegetable. All a dem spoil.”
Kisha-Ann Pinnock, another affected resident, told The Gleaner that she lost close to $100,000 worth of chicken and other meats, which she had to dump.
Pinnock, a poultry vendor, said the outages have hurt her business.
“This is what I do for a living. It provides for me and my 12-year-old son and also for my two nephews, who I have been caring for since their mother died some time ago,” Pinnock said.
Earlier, dozens of disgruntled residents used debris to block the main road into the community and criticised the JPS for failing to provide adequate information.
Electricity was restored about 3 p.m.
The JPS claimed that its crews had to turn back because of hostility from the residents, who the company said were boisterous.
However, those claims could not be verified.