THE EDITOR, Sir:
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) is losing more than U$30 million each year to electricity theft. In recent months, the company has been desperately trying to remove illegal connections islandwide. But as soon as the JPS van drives off and turns the corner, the wires go back up again!
Unfortunately, the burden of stemming this theft has been left up to the power company. But this should really be a problem for our police, as JPS is in the business of electricity production, not law enforcement. However, there is obviously a lack of political will to tackle the problem head-on.
Honestly, there is no way many of these people can pay the actual cost of electricity. And the prime minister is particularly concerned about the plight of the nation’s poor. So, why not have an interim inner-city electricity rate? This could be a fraction of the actual cost.
Many will scoff at this idea. But collecting something is a lot better than collecting nothing. It would be a win-win-win:
The Government would save face with the ‘poor’.
Paying customers would pay less.
JPS’s 14 per cent loss to theft would be cut.
One thing is certain: the