Government needs to heed plight of the suffering
Published:Saturday | August 20, 2011 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The Government owns, through the Development Bank of Jamaica, 20 per cent of the shares of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) and, as a result, sits on the highest decision-making body of that organisation. Therefore, for every dollar JPS makes as profit, one-fifth of that amount goes to the Government. As with any shareholder, the Government's primary interest is to make a profit.
I have deep concerns about the Government's hands-off stance with regard to the regularisation of electricity usage now being pursued in a very aggressive manner by JPS. As a government duly elected by the people, it also has the social responsibility to ensure that those at the bottom of the economic scale are given some sort of protection from the awesome power of the utility provider.
I am not saying they should get 'free light'. Those days are gone. All I am saying is to use the power of Government/shareholder to prevent social fallout which is bound to happen when these ghetto people cannot afford the newly regularised elecricity supply.
Brewing anger
The fact of the matter is that even before these regularised customers use even 1kWh, they will be indebted to JPS for the cost of wiring their homes. And whether they come from Rose Town, Tivoli, Seaview or Flankers, this is the case. They have no forum to express what they are going through. They have no one to represent them on these matters, and so there is a lot of anger brewing, threatening to boil over.
When that happens, all the gains made by the Government in the economy will be lost. It is for this very reason the Government must do what it can to prevent this social fallout. No contract renegotiation can occur soon enough to help them, no commission of enquiry will ease their debt to the JPS. In their own way they have resisted the regularisation exercise by not signing up, but they now have no choice.
Poverty is not a crime, but living in it and be forced to be indebted will cause crime. The Government must heed their plight.
HOWARD HAMILTON
Portmore Pines