Nearly 60 days after Hurricane Beryl swept through Jamaica, electricity has been fully restored to all areas in the severely affected parish of St. Elizabeth. The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) announced the completion of the restoration work on Thursday, ahead of the projected August 31 deadline.
JPS President and chief executive officer, Hugh Grant shared the news during a back-to-school fair in Ginger Hill, St. Elizabeth. “We have successfully restored power in St. Elizabeth three days ahead of schedule, just in time for back-to-school, one of the most significant events for our young people and their families,” Grant stated.
While the restoration marks a significant milestone, Grant acknowledged that some customers may still face challenges on their properties that prevent them from receiving electricity. “We are actively working with those customers to resolve any outstanding issues so they can be connected, as power is now available in their communities. Additionally, a few areas may still be experiencing outages due to access issues, and we are collaborating with the relevant authorities to address those as well,” he explained.
The completion of the work in St. Elizabeth signifies the end of JPS’s islandwide power restoration efforts following Hurricane Beryl. Grant expressed his gratitude to Jamaicans for their patience and understanding as JPS teams worked to rebuild sections of the network, some of which will continue to be enhanced in the coming weeks on a planned basis.
Grant also extended special thanks to Energy Minister Daryl Vaz for his unwavering support and advocacy on behalf of the Jamaican people.
In response, Minister Vaz expressed his relief and gratitude for the swift restoration efforts. “The past eight weeks have been challenging for me as minister and for the hundreds of thousands of affected customers. However, I commend President Grant for his proactive leadership since taking office on August 1st, which has been instrumental in bringing this difficult situation to a close,” Vaz remarked.
He added that he is hopeful that the remaining isolated areas and customers experiencing issues will be fully restored in the coming days, ensuring complete power restoration across the parish.
