According to the 2011 Census, Jamaica is moving closer to 100 percent of households having electricity.
It shows that 91 percent of
Customers of Jamaica‘s main electricity supplier, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are to see higher prices for electricity for a second straight month.
JPS will hike electricity costs, by about 5.5 percent.
That increase comes as fuel charges rose to a five month high.
Last month, fuel and IPP charges rose by as much as 17 percent.
That increase was cited as the main reason behind inflation in September alone, being equivalent to that of the previous five mnths combined.
Read more:
Customers of Jamaica‘s main electricity supplier, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are to see higher prices for electricity for a second straight month.
JPS will hike electricity costs, by about 5.5 percent.
That increase comes as fuel charges rose to a five month high.
Last month, fuel and IPP charges rose by as much as 17 percent.
That increase was cited as the main reason behind inflation in September alone, being equivalent to that of the previous five mnths combined.
Read more:
THRICE in the last two months or so, where this writer lives has been out of power for more than three hours – twice for about 12 hours. Power outages are almost daily affairs for many Jamaicans and the usual excuse about the “teams” being too busy tending to other faults to respond with alacrity no longer rings with any conviction.
Perhaps a part of the problem is that JPS appears to view “emergency” differently from their customers. A customer experiencing a power outage calling JPS is first presented with an option relating to bill balance or about payment to JPS. The second option is to report an emergency. When one enters that menu number, one is reminded that the line is for emergencies only and further input is required from the customer to proceed. The caller is then reminded about recording of the call for quality purposes. Then, and only then, can one speak to a representative about the emergency
SOMETHING is drastically wrong with this country.
We have been informed by the best of our scientific minds that close to half of us are mentally unstable and yet we have never considered that among that 50 per cent may be politicians.
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PAULWELL… leading light to draw the PNP into new 21st century |
We seem to be people who mean well, but somehow don’t want to do well.
In the time of the last administration, a lot of noise was made about transforming energy from expensive oil-burning to the interim stage of LNG. It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering, but it indicated that we were on the right track towards making our country more competitive in the region and giving our people a chance to make their lives more meaningful.
As the talk of moving to liquid natural gas (LNG) gained momentum, so it seemed did the savvy of those who made up the last JLP administration. First, the Office of the Contractor General pushed its way to the front and the JLP Government wilted as the people rejoiced. As one listened to “the people” it must have seemed that there were many scallywags stalking the halls of JLP party central.
An election was later held and the JLP was soundly rejected.
Close to one year later, the only sound voice in the present PNP administration seems to be that of PNP minister, Phillip Paulwell.
We have all accepted the fact that if we do not configure our energy-producing sector to move away from heavy oil-burning, we will remain in the backwoods forever. That we know. In the last JLP administration, one which made its name through making Jamaicans even more distrustful of politicians than they were before, once the matter of LNG arose, all eyes lit up!
Too many people were making too much money, we thought. And even if we did have the full picture in our minds, it must have meant that we the people were being shafted. Or so we imagined.
In the end, a weak JLP administration bowed to the dictates of political and public pressure and the entity that had won the concession for introducing LNG to Jamaica, Exmar, and its local connection were scuttled.
The PNP rejoiced.
With a PNP administration that is close to one year old and is generally suffering from “old-age” in so short a time, there have been a few areas which have attracted my attention, and it seems the attention of the general public, if word at street level still has any credence. I speak, of course, of the energy ministry.
First, there have been the efforts in levelling the playing field in the mobile phone market. Somehow that seems to be on the reverse as one big telecoms player has been playing grand games with the public. Second, a convenient and totally indiscriminating public has bought the idea that that particular telecoms entity is deeply in love with them.
That said, Minister Paulwell’s strident efforts to bring about a lowering of the energy bill to ALL in this country must be lauded.
First, there was the thought among many that the LNG project was going to be government-driven and run by a historically proved inefficient government, especially one dominated by the PNP, an administration that has a history of being anti-business and too socialist-oriented. Second, as the world turns, and especially in Jamaica, corruption was the big bugbear.
The present arrangement which takes the LNG supply project totally out of the hands of government, once it had reached the stage of deciding the directions of the energy policy of the country is, to me, the best compromise. It is not the perfect one, the one that I would have preferred – that of reverting to awarding the LNG bid to Exmar and its local partners. To me, however, Minister Paulwell has committed his ministry and government to the JPS lowering energy rates by 50 per cent by the year 2015, a time when the people of this country will still have the chance to make a decision on the direction of his government.
Let us face it – there is not much that the Portia Simpson Miller administration can feed to the people as pap at this time. It won the 2011 elections on wild and reckless promises and mostly on the fact that it placed the populist PM Simpson Miller out front to play her song-and-dance routine to the people. Since the win, her song has died and her dance has failed to move us, but in the bleachers, the political watchers know that the Opposition JLP has a next-to-impossible chance of regaining all that was lost and given away by the abysmal and indecisive leadership of Bruce Golding.
Seaga was dead right!
The IMF analysis of economic trends for the next five to 10 years makes for bleak reading. Jamaica has lived most of its post-independence life as a mendicant nation where our prime ministers earn their kudos and clout at the polls for selling to the people their potential for borrowing the most. To a people of low-information voters and aggressive businessmen who are always seeing in such an arrangement an opportunity to make an extra buck, that simply feeds into the idea that government in this country must not be a facilitator as much as it ought to be a feeding tree.
The people rely on this, especially whenever a PNP administration is in power, and big businesses know that as much as they hate to do business during a PNP administration, if they want to survive, the ball has to be kicked back and forth. Again, Seaga was right.
In an administration filled with too many old socialists, Phillip Paulwell is a leading light in the effort to draw the PNP into the new 21st century. Finance Minister Peter Phillips has long shucked off his socialist leanings as the rigours of the current economic climate present themselves to him in a most unkind light.
He has to face the harsh reality of an IMF programme in danger of being derailed by the historical politics of the PNP. The negotiations need the full cooperation of all inputs from the various ministries such as the energy and commerce ministries.
We all know that the prime minister is out to lunch, so not much can be expected there more than a tip to the poor waitress, a hug and a kiss. Poor “she”.
Keep doing your thing, Minister Paulwell. Who knows, maybe even the most inflexible leader can be brought fully into the 21st century.
SOMETHING is drastically wrong with this country.
We have been informed by the best of our scientific minds that close to half of us are mentally unstable and yet we have never considered that among that 50 per cent may be politicians.
|
PAULWELL… leading light to draw the PNP into new 21st century |
We seem to be people who mean well, but somehow don’t want to do well.
In the time of the last administration, a lot of noise was made about transforming energy from expensive oil-burning to the interim stage of LNG. It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering, but it indicated that we were on the right track towards making our country more competitive in the region and giving our people a chance to make their lives more meaningful.
As the talk of moving to liquid natural gas (LNG) gained momentum, so it seemed did the savvy of those who made up the last JLP administration. First, the Office of the Contractor General pushed its way to the front and the JLP Government wilted as the people rejoiced. As one listened to “the people” it must have seemed that there were many scallywags stalking the halls of JLP party central.
An election was later held and the JLP was soundly rejected.
Close to one year later, the only sound voice in the present PNP administration seems to be that of PNP minister, Phillip Paulwell.
We have all accepted the fact that if we do not configure our energy-producing sector to move away from heavy oil-burning, we will remain in the backwoods forever. That we know. In the last JLP administration, one which made its name through making Jamaicans even more distrustful of politicians than they were before, once the matter of LNG arose, all eyes lit up!
Too many people were making too much money, we thought. And even if we did have the full picture in our minds, it must have meant that we the people were being shafted. Or so we imagined.
In the end, a weak JLP administration bowed to the dictates of political and public pressure and the entity that had won the concession for introducing LNG to Jamaica, Exmar, and its local connection were scuttled.
The PNP rejoiced.
With a PNP administration that is close to one year old and is generally suffering from “old-age” in so short a time, there have been a few areas which have attracted my attention, and it seems the attention of the general public, if word at street level still has any credence. I speak, of course, of the energy ministry.
First, there have been the efforts in levelling the playing field in the mobile phone market. Somehow that seems to be on the reverse as one big telecoms player has been playing grand games with the public. Second, a convenient and totally indiscriminating public has bought the idea that that particular telecoms entity is deeply in love with them.
That said, Minister Paulwell’s strident efforts to bring about a lowering of the energy bill to ALL in this country must be lauded.
First, there was the thought among many that the LNG project was going to be government-driven and run by a historically proved inefficient government, especially one dominated by the PNP, an administration that has a history of being anti-business and too socialist-oriented. Second, as the world turns, and especially in Jamaica, corruption was the big bugbear.
The present arrangement which takes the LNG supply project totally out of the hands of government, once it had reached the stage of deciding the directions of the energy policy of the country is, to me, the best compromise. It is not the perfect one, the one that I would have preferred – that of reverting to awarding the LNG bid to Exmar and its local partners. To me, however, Minister Paulwell has committed his ministry and government to the JPS lowering energy rates by 50 per cent by the year 2015, a time when the people of this country will still have the chance to make a decision on the direction of his government.
Let us face it – there is not much that the Portia Simpson Miller administration can feed to the people as pap at this time. It won the 2011 elections on wild and reckless promises and mostly on the fact that it placed the populist PM Simpson Miller out front to play her song-and-dance routine to the people. Since the win, her song has died and her dance has failed to move us, but in the bleachers, the political watchers know that the Opposition JLP has a next-to-impossible chance of regaining all that was lost and given away by the abysmal and indecisive leadership of Bruce Golding.
Seaga was dead right!
The IMF analysis of economic trends for the next five to 10 years makes for bleak reading. Jamaica has lived most of its post-independence life as a mendicant nation where our prime ministers earn their kudos and clout at the polls for selling to the people their potential for borrowing the most. To a people of low-information voters and aggressive businessmen who are always seeing in such an arrangement an opportunity to make an extra buck, that simply feeds into the idea that government in this country must not be a facilitator as much as it ought to be a feeding tree.
The people rely on this, especially whenever a PNP administration is in power, and big businesses know that as much as they hate to do business during a PNP administration, if they want to survive, the ball has to be kicked back and forth. Again, Seaga was right.
In an administration filled with too many old socialists, Phillip Paulwell is a leading light in the effort to draw the PNP into the new 21st century. Finance Minister Peter Phillips has long shucked off his socialist leanings as the rigours of the current economic climate present themselves to him in a most unkind light.
He has to face the harsh reality of an IMF programme in danger of being derailed by the historical politics of the PNP. The negotiations need the full cooperation of all inputs from the various ministries such as the energy and commerce ministries.
We all know that the prime minister is out to lunch, so not much can be expected there more than a tip to the poor waitress, a hug and a kiss. Poor “she”.
Keep doing your thing, Minister Paulwell. Who knows, maybe even the most inflexible leader can be brought fully into the 21st century.
JAMAICA Public Service (JPS) and the University of Technology (UTech) have partnered to establish a solar renewable energy facility.
Recognising the need for more diversification in electricity generation, both institutions signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday for the solar energy project
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Jamaica Public Service Company and the University of Technology signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a solar renewable energy facility. Valentine Fagan (left), vice-president expansion, JPS; Kelly Tomblin, president and chief executive officer, JPS; Errol Morrison, president, UTech and Ruth Potopsingh, UTech
WE note with appreciation that Mrs Kelly Tomblin is sticking doggedly to her commitment to transform the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) into a more customer-friendly organisation. Yesterday, the monopoly light and power company that, for decades, has been the subject of much public anger, announced the appointments of 15 parish managers as part of Mrs Tomblin’s promised comprehensive organisational restructuring. “We are decentralising our operations so that decisions about serving our customers in the parishes no longer need to be made at the head office,” Mrs Tomblin was quoted in a JPS news release. “Our aim is to create a more personal connection with our customers, so we are strengthening our service delivery capabilities at the local level.” In an apparent move to enhance the change, Mrs Tomblin also appointed three new regional directors who, she said, will have oversight of the company’s regional operations. One of the encouraging aspects of this strategy is that many of the appointees are new to the company. As such, we expect that they will bring a fresh approach to how the JPS interacts with customers and will, hopefully, contribute immensely to the culture shift that Mrs Tomblin intends to achieve. Following Mrs Tomblin’s appearance at an Observer Monday Exchange in May this year, shortly after she took the job as president and CEO of the JPS, we had commented in this space that she appears to understand that when in pain, neither customers nor her employees will care about the needs of the JPS until it is clear that the business cares about them. We also noted that her emphasis on listening, observing and acknowledging, rather than trying to explain or rationalise, reflected a necessary emotional intelligence that appeared to be missing from the company’s former top management. Based on what we have seen so far, we believe that Mrs Tomblin has brought new and positive energy to the JPS, no pun intended. For in addition to the 15 parish managers and new regional directors, we are aware that she has recruited other talented and highly qualified professionals in order to effect the transformation that the company needs. It is important, though, for customers to bear in mind that the turnaround that it desires will not take place overnight. For the company has been haemorrhaging from years of customer dissatisfaction that has only been made worse by rising oil prices on the world market that have pushed up, rather painfully, the cost of electricity to customers. One key to that turnaround, though, is for the JPS to ensure that it maintains a constant dialogue with its customers and, just as important, its staff. A lot of that responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the parish managers and regional directors who, we suggest, should hold regular discussion sessions with JPS customers in their respective jurisdictions. Of course, the company will never be able to win over everyone. However, we believe that if the JPS can rebuild enough public trust, it will soften somewhat the anger being aimed at the company because of the volatility in international oil prices. And any gains made in that area would be multiplied tenfold if the company moves swiftly to introduce cheaper sources of energy. Read more:
In a move to decentralise its operations the Jamaica Public Service Company, JPS, has announced the appointment of
Tomblin
Power company puts greater focus on regional service President and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), Kelly Tomblin, has announced the appointments of 15 new parish managers as part of efforts to transform the light and power company into a more customer-centred organisation. The JPS said the move also formed part of a comprehensive organisational restructuring which is currently in progress within the company. According to Tomblin, “we are changing the way we serve our customers”. “We are decentralising our operations so that decisions about serving our customers in the parishes no longer need to be made at the head office,” she said. “Our aim is to create a more personal connection with our customers, so we are strengthening our service delivery capabilities at the local level.” New directors appointed In this regard, JPS said it has appointed three new directors who will have oversight for its regional operations. The directors include Omar Sweeney, who was most recently at the Planning Institute of Jamaica; Keith Garvey, previously general director of the Rural Electrification Programme; and Blaine Jarrett, who is a previous director of transmission service at the JPS. The company said Sweeney would be responsible for the JPS’s east region while Garvey and Jarrett would head the company’s south and western regions’ operations, respectively. The company added that the recruitment of business executives and professionals from outside the organisation was the first phase of its organisational transformation. “We are excited about the new direction that JPS is taking, and the value and new perspectives that these new executives will bring. Our customers will definitely be seeing and feeling the new JPS before long,” Tomblin said. Read more: |