Thumbs up to underground power lines
ITHE EDITOR, Sir:
MUST thank The Gleaner for the editorial titled ‘Plan for underground power lines’ because in 1961 when the Government of Jamaica designed the underground utility service in the then newly built Hope Pastures housing community, it had a clear vision that this was the most sensible and costeffective means for supplying electricity in the tropics.
It had hoped that this would be the model scheme for Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean. Indeed, because of the undergrounding of cables, the Hope Pastures wiring was never exposed to theft or damage from weather changes over the past 50 years and was the first community to regain power after Hurricane Gilbert.
The present Hope Pastures stand-off is partly due to the fact that the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) did not ever place their underground cables in conduits, and in 1970, the then JPSCo wrote an open letter to the residents apologising for the lack of maintenance to the system because it could not locate the undergrounded cables.
NO MAINTENANCE
Since then, there has been no maintenance because of the same reason. Contrary to the JPSCo’s position, the telephone company still maintains its supply system in underground conduits.
The most recent vexing issue for Hope Pastures residents is not only that the company bawls that it is expensive to locate and repair the aged system that it constructed and installed, but recent directors claim that it is unable to repair it because it does not have an operating licence to do underground work.
These must be ‘alternative facts’ as they are currently engaged in work with the Government, for aesthetic reasons, to replace the overhead supply with underground cables along the Gloucester tourist hip strip in Montego Bay, already funded by US$46 million. All of this has been difficult for Hope Pastures residents, who felt abandoned and were forced to seek legal action because they received no help from the Government and the regulatory bodies. Is this how other housing communities that plan for the undergrounding of power lines are going to be treated?
ICOLYN BARTLEY icolynbartley@gmail.com