Dear Editor,

The JPS, having recently got its anticipated rate increase from the OUR, is now going about its business of collecting revenue with deliberate seriousness. The need to collect payment from customers is an obvious concern to the company. This is particularly the case when it is well known that there are thousands of customers stealing electricity. These customers range from the “little man” with his drop wire to the more sophisticated “big” consumer who has wired his house or business deliberately defrauding the company .

However, I wish to bring to light a different bill-payment matter – one involving the well-regulated and disciplined area of Hope Pastures. In a specific case, the JPS required one of its customers to remove the existing meters from an open garage wall to a constructed pillar near the gate. This was at substantial cost to the consumer. The JPS said it could not get access to the meter because of a locked gate. A letter from the company said that if the construction was not completed within 60 days, service would be discontinued. There was, incidentally, no earlier warning from the company about access to the meter in spite of the fact that the customer had indicated specific days that there would not be a problem with the locked gate. The company’s letter also invoked the licensing agreement which, among other things, allows access to the premises and every part thereof at all reasonable times.

The JPS must regularise its meter-reading schedule and advise customers when their meter readers will be going to an area. Clearly, the JPS has gone too far in its expectations of people quietly bowing to their demands. The question of efficient service by the company also comes to the fore. This is exemplified by the following:

*The transformer on Glendon Circle which was damaged during Hurricane Ivan over a year ago and which was afterwards covered with pieces of rotten tarpaulin has only recently been removed following intervention.

*The pole from the main transformer on Hope Boulevard with vines growing to the very top of the pole has only recently been cleared, also following intervention.

*A recent JPS bill arrived the day after the due date of payment.

Question to the OUR: will water meters for the NWC need to be moved as well?

Dr AW Sangster

20 Glendon Circle

Kingston 6