THE EDITOR, Sir:
Hardly a day goes by without me hearing of electricity theft from Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) supply lines. What about armoured cable? Has JPS tried this?
Twin armoured cables are made up of a minimum of five layers of insulation, the individual insulation of the two conductors, an overall insulation of these two, then comes the armour rap which in the low cost cables is normally made from aluminium and finally the outer insulation.
Steel armoured cables are considered the best. The 16mm steel armoured cables come in at about US$600 per 100 metres.
I know that there are many Jamaicans who are very ingenious at theft – and not much else – but unless one calls the Grim Reaper and asks him to stay away, it would be a very brave person, or possibly a fool, who tries to make a connection to an armoured cable without first switching the power off and using the correct tools.
You can’t connect to an armoured cable by throwing up a hook! Yes, I know that future legal connections to such a line will take longer and cost more, but it is a one-off payment. This will, in the end, cost less than going to and fro to remove illegal connections or throwing up hands and saying, “We don’t know what else to do.” We can’t go on like this!
JPS does not (I stand corrected) have any means of determining the difference between line loss which varies and theft, but as it is allowed to charge you and me for that which is guessed theft, why bother to go to the expense of putting up armoured cables in predominantly theft areas.
PHIL FOSTER
croc@cwjamaica.com
St Elizabeth
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