Greater transparency from JPS
Published:Saturday | June 20, 2020 | 12:13 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Having been summoned to appear before the Cabinet to explain the exorbitant light bills customers have been getting, Jamaica Public Service (JPS) management has already begun to formulate its defence. According to a report aired in sections of the media, JPS is attributing the high electricity bills to the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar and the rise in the prices of fuel, among other things.
While there are serious questions surrounding the veracity of some of the reasons given by the management of JPS for the high light bills, for example, that fuel costs have increased, we, the consumers, are aware that these commodities play a significant role in the composition of our light bills. The problem we are having lies in the fact that there are no mechanisms in place to verify if these claims are true. And what inevitably results from this absence of transparency is an arbitrary determination of what individual bills will look like.
No one can doubt that JPS has been emboldened to behave in this manner due only to its monopoly on electricity distribution in the country. Further, this monopoly has only been able to remain intact for so long because the country lacks effective leadership. First of all, effective leadership makes it a priority to design policies that discourage monopoly in any sector of the economy. And if, for some extenuating circumstances, it has to exist, regulatory measures are put in place to protect consumers. We, sadly, do not see that protection extended to the Jamaican consumers, so we are left at the mercy of monopolies that hoodwinked our Government to assure them of guaranteed minimum profit.
CASHLEY BROWN