HAPPILY, MORE sections of the country have been put back on the Jamaica Public Service's electricity supply grid, as technical crews continue to work long and extended hours late into the nights to restore power to customers.
It is also commendable that the light and power company has begun to publish a more detailed update of the progress it has made in restoring electricity across the country and its schedule for those areas where it has not yet been able to do so. This information should help those customers who will be without power for a few more days and weeks better to plan their lives and make alternative arrangements where possible. For too many, the past few days have been a frustrating exercise at feeling around in the dark for specific information from the JPS.
With the return of electricity, more water supply systems have been put back into commission thereby defusing the tension and frustration of householders and significantly reducing the potential threat to public health.
These steps at a gradual return to normality should not blind us to the fact that for thousands of people, normal life will be weeks and months away. But the Government has made some good moves to help the process in its selection of key persons for important post-hurricane assignments.
The appointment of Mr. Danville Walker to head the Office of National Reconstruction is one such move. Another is the assigning of former Police Commissioner, Colonel Trevor MacMillan, the direct responsibility for the distribution of relief benefits to persons affected by Hurricane Ivan.
As the Prime Minister has noted, Colonel MacMillan, one of four private sector representatives drafted on a new board to oversee the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), has had previous experience in the flood recovery effort in western Jamaica in 1980. The other private sector members Anthony Barnes, Peter Melhado, chief operation officer of the ICD Group, and Raymond Campbell, are all wise choices.
Their expertise from different sectors of the Jamaican economy, along with those of the other representatives named by the Prime Minister, should go a far way to help the efficient management of the post-hurricane restoration efforts and reduce the potential for quibbling and quarrelling seemingly endemic to Jamaican public life.
We note too Mr. Patterson's statement to journalists on Friday that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has been mandated to receive, store and supervise the security of relief supplies, including food and building materials. While army personnel are not immune to corruption, we do believe that, in general, their supervision will lessen the likelihood of chicanery and theft that perhaps would prove more tempting to other persons with less demanding standards of accountability.
