FEARS that electricity bills will be hiked to cover the cost of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) Hurricane Beryl restoration work have been laid to rest, while Jamaicans, still in the dark, are being urged to continue exercising patience.

Minister of Science, Energy and Telecommunications Daryl Vaz on Wednesday told a post-Cabinet media briefing that, “Arising from the experiences of previous hurricanes and the difficulty of securing insurance for JPS assets, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) had approved, in the rates for electricity, a charge which goes to what is called the Electricity Disaster Fund which it [JPS] can access in the event of a disaster like Hurricane Beryl.”

According to Vaz, the fund now stands at US$50 million, which the JPS can tap into to cover the cost incurred to restore its infrastructure and equipment from damage suffered during Beryl.

He said the OUR approved US$5 million for the JPS to improve its inventory prior to the start of the hurricane season.

Vaz noted that during the July 3 weather system the JPS suffered damage to 4,287 conductors, 2,602 poles, 134 transformers, 94 transmission structures, plus 2,185 pieces of transmission and distribution equipment.

He reiterated that help is coming to assist the local light and power company to accelerate its post-Beryl restoration.

Vaz said that support has been sought from the regional Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), while external contractors from the bauxite industry have been assigned to assist in restoration efforts in the parishes of Hanover and St Elizabeth.

When asked by the Jamaica Observer how many line workers would be arriving to assist in its hurricane recovery, the JPS said that information is not yet available.

A confident Vaz told the post-Cabinet media briefing that areas hardest hit by the hurricane should see full electricity restoration by August 6 — Independence Day — with other areas expected to be back on the grid by next weekend.

Up to Wednesday morning St Elizabeth, the parish that took the hardest beating from Beryl, had 51 per cent of electricity customers back on the power grid.

“Key areas restored in St Elizabeth include sections of Black River, Junction, Alligator Pond, Top Hill, Good Hope, Santa Cruz, Crane Road, and Watchwell,” said Vaz

He also announced that all major hospitals and health centres have had electricity supply restored, while 84 per cent of National Water Commission (NWC) facilities have had electrical power restored.

The announcements by Vaz came less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Andrew Holness moved to defend the JPS, which has been receiving harsh criticisms regarding its performance in restoring electricity to scores of its customers.

In a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Holness noted that power has been restored to approximately 655,000 JPS customers, which represented 94.6 per cent of the customer base of the company.

“Generally, 10 days after a hurricane to be at 94 per cent is a significant achievement. There are other countries which would have gotten hit by a Category 1 hurricane and there are still complaints of over 500,000 customers without electricity,” said Holness in a pointed reference to the American state of Texas which was also hit by Beryl.

Holness told the House of Representatives that the JPS, in its plan for the full restoration of electricity, “had given us a target date which we all questioned as to whether or not it was feasible…We were given some targets that obviously were ambitious”.

He said he understands, however, that the JPS is facing some challenges that are not all exclusively within its domain or control and which has hampered the progress of restoration.

“This is not in any way to diminish the frustration that persons who are without electricity have. But I think in general, we need to moderate the expectations of immediate return because there are some challenges that we need to account for when we are building out our expectation for the return of electricity.

“For example, if it rains, the linemen will not be able to work in this kind of weather. So they may lose a day or two. There are poles in certain locations which are unsafe to treat with. So they may have to realign poles because of land slippage [or] other broken infrastructure,” said Holness.

Zooming in on St Elizabeth, the prime minister pointed out that the parish accounts for approximately five per cent of the JPS customer base, which is a challenge because the company’s customer base is highly concentrated in Kingston and St Andrew, Spanish Town, Portmore, and St James, because of the urban nature of electricity usage.

“This is not to say that they are not significant areas that are without electricity…So, for context, since the broader parish of St Elizabeth only represents five per cent of the total customer base, that should give a reasonable expectation in terms of how the return of electricity will be effected,” said Holness.

Alecia Smith contributed to this story.