Eastern Westmoreland power cuts affecting businesses

Karrie Williams, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Councillor of the Seaforth Town Division of the Westmoreland Parish Council, Cebert McFarlane, says frequent power cuts across eastern Westmoreland are forcing many shopkeepers out of business.

According to McFarlane, many residents have had to resort to other means of generating their own electricity supply.

Some of the worst-affected areas are Dundee, Belvedere, Seafort Town, and St Leonard's.

"If not for the use of generators, we would have had to cancel a number of significant events. Most recently, we had to use a generator to provide electricity for the hosting of a graduation ceremony for the Dundee Primary School," he stated.

McFarlane also lamented the plight of grocery shop operators in his division. He said many of them had been suffering tremendous losses as a result of the frequent power cuts.

"Here in Dundee, we experience a power cut every other day, and each time we have one, it takes a very long time before power is restored, which oftentimes, results in spoilage to our meat items. It gets even worse whenever it rains. Every time we have rainfall, or even the threat of rainfall, we experience a power cut. I recently lost 50 pounds of meat and a freezer as a result of these constant power cuts," shop operator Suzette Duhaney told Western Focus.

JPS RESPONSE

When contacted for a response, Director of Regional Operations for the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), Region West, Blaine Jarrett, said his office had received several calls from residents concerning the power cuts. He cited multiple reasons for their occurrence, including landslides and the cutting down of bamboo trees.

"We have always had a problem with vegetation in this area. Bamboo, in particular, causes severe problems for us, and the fact that these communities receive a lot of rainfall results in further complications. Currently, we carry out an ongoing debushing exercise, and we recently replaced our normal conductor with an insulated conductor. This new conductor serves to prevent a power cut from occurring in the event that any wind or rain activity causes trees to come in contact with power lines," Jarrett said.

Residents were also asked to continue to exercise patience until the JPS came up with a long-term solution to the problem.

"I strongly empathise with the plight of the residents, and so I am asking those customers to bear with us as we do recognise the problem and we are trying to correct them in the shortest possible time. I would also like to commend the efforts of the councillor, Mr McFarlane, who consistently calls to report or alert us of possible landslides, affording us the opportunity to take corrective measures," Jarrett said.