Persistent
Electricity Theft in Maxfield Avenue Community Destroys Numerous Streetlights
September
7, 2016
Exactly one month after the collaborative move between JPS, the
Jamaica Constabulary Force and the residents of Maxfield Avenue to keep
streetlights free of illegal connections and thereby functional, 34 or 40% of the
streetlights in the area have stopped functioning due to multiple instances of
electricity theft. The streetlights are not designed to provide domestic power supply
to homes for their electrical appliances – such as refrigerators and
televisions. They are therefore being destroyed due to the strain of
persistent overloading.
On August 5, 2016, JPS and members of the Jamaica Constabulary
Force (JCF) met with residents of the Maxfield community and local leadership,
to hammer out the way forward, given the continued breaches of the streetlights
and the resultant malfunctioning of these structures. At the meeting, residents
committed to stop connecting illegally to the streetlights as their actions are
putting their community at risk. They also committed to holding each other
accountable, so as to clamp down on the practice.
The illegal abstraction of electricity has incurred significant
costs for the Company. JPS has carried
out repairs on 85 streetlights, at a cost of US$17,000 or J$2.16M – and already
34 no longer work, due to breaches.
Additionally, the Company pays US$5,000 to replace each burnt
transformer. Three transformers have
been destroyed in the last 5 weeks alone - due to power theft.
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