Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) CEO Hugh Grant has confirmed to parliamentary officials that an arrest has been made in connection with extortion attempts targeting customers awaiting power restoration after Hurricane Melissa. The disclosure came during Tuesday’s session of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) where legislators grilled utility executives about allegations that residents were being solicited for illegal payments to expedite electricity reconnection.
Grant expressed profound disappointment regarding these exploitative practices, stating: ‘When you say that workmen request to be paid, that hurts my heart during this unprecedented time of hardship.’ He emphasized the company’s zero-tolerance stance toward such activities and revealed that swift action had been taken upon discovering the scheme.
The JPS president outlined comprehensive countermeasures implemented since the hurricane devastated Jamaica’s power infrastructure last October. These include enhanced monitoring systems, public awareness campaigns through town criers and text messages, and deployment of security personnel to affected areas. ‘We have done town criers, we have done texts, we have also sent out our security forces in many operations,’ Grant detailed during the committee hearing.
Importantly, Grant clarified that the apprehended individual was not employed by JPS, though the company continues to collaborate closely with law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute additional offenders. The arrest comes amid widespread public frustration over prolonged outages that left tens of thousands of customers without electricity for extended periods across multiple parishes following Hurricane Melissa’s destructive path.
The utility executive urged affected communities to report any solicitation attempts immediately, promising robust response measures: ‘Give me a lead and I guarantee you we will have our security forces out there and we will ensure that we do right by the law.’