No plans for OUR office in western Jamaica

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE OFFICE of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has admitted that it is not currently planning to set up a regional office in western Jamaica, despite requests for the establishment of such an office, but is asserting that this should not prevent western clients from accessing its services.

Ansord Hewitt, the OUR’s director general, made the assertion on Thursday during his keynote address during the organisation’s inaugural ‘Western Focus’ stakeholder meeting, which was held on the online Zoom platform. The forum was held to address utility concerns in western Jamaica and to provide an update on the state of Jamaica’s utility sector.

“We are aware that there is an ongoing request for the OUR to set up an office in the west, and we saw that in our canvass (survey). We cannot promise you that this will happen soon, or at all,” said Hewitt.

He was referring to figures gathered by the OUR which showed that out of 5,771 persons who made contact with the entity during 2021, St James accounted for only six per cent of those calls, while Westmoreland, Trelawny and Hanover each accounted for two per cent. By contrast, Kingston and St Andrew made up the bulk of those calls at 28 per cent, followed by St Catherine with 18 per cent.

Additionally, of all the calls which the OUR received during 2021, 47 per cent were in relation to billing matters, while 15 per cent were for interruption of service. Disconnection, poor service quality, and terms and conditions of service each accounted for four per cent of the calls, while rebates or refunds made up three per cent, and all other categories made up the remaining 23 per cent.

Hewitt suggested that despite the OUR’s lack of a physical office space in western Jamaica, customers could still use technology to access the organisation’s services as needed.

WE CAN DO BUSINESS ANYWHERE

“The low level of contacts from the west indicates a level of remoteness that we are committed to remedying, and in this regard we would wish to underscore that with current technology, lack of proximity ought not to operate as a barrier to more frequent contacts and greater engagement,” said Hewitt.

“If there is one thing that this COVID pandemic has taught us, it is that we can do business from anywhere. What we can commit to, therefore, is to use a combination of the available technology and leveraging partnerships with critical stakeholders in the west, to ensure you have both the sense and reality of greater access to the OUR,” Hewitt added.

The OUR began its operations in 1997 after being established by an act of Parliament, with a mandate to provide effective regulation of Jamaica’s utility services as well as an avenue of appeal for consumers’ grievances with those companies.

The regulatory body’s mandate includes overseeing of the services provided by the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, the National Water Commission, and telecommunications service providers Digicel and FLOW.

In 2013, the OUR redesigned its website in order to make it more user-friendly and open, so that clients could access the regulatory body’s documentation and other relevant content.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com