THE EDITOR, Sir:
I READ Mr. John P.Azar's open letter to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) in The Gleaner earlier this week, and I must say I really share his deep sense of pain and frustration.
It doesn't matter how much you do, your efforts of conserving seems useless as the next invoice from JPS is always higher. You go back, you check the measures for conserving that you have put in place and you look around for more things not to do in your home. But it doesn't make any difference because " ... any number can play".
Our June to July bill jumped from $4,300 to $8,543 (no new equipment were brought into the home). Of course, we assumed this was an error on their part and paid $4,500, and would you believe that the July to August bill reflect the unpaid portion along with current charges of $6,350.34.
WHAT ARRANGEMENTS WITH GOVERNMENT
Today's Gleaner (Thursday, August 25) headline reads 'Light bill creeps up - regulator grants JPS portion of Hurricane Ivan damage claim'. Which simply means we are responsible for JPS's lack of foresight to insure their property. I would love for someone to tell me what kind of arrangement these people have with the Government.
Am I to believe that the Jamaica Public Service, being a monopoly and is the nation's only supplier of electricity was hard press, irresponsible and lackadaisical in securing their own interest?
Do the Government, the OUR and their workers of all levels pay light bills?
How can the Government, after signing an MoU with their underpaid civil servants, allow the OUR to grant such an increase? Is there a concession that we don't know about? Or is there a method of conserving that we are not following?
But you know, I must thank JPS, and the Government for this, because if it weren't for them I would not have decided to do a few things:
Learn how to read and calculate my meter and my bill, then I can tally a daily reading over a two-month period and compare the result with JPS' s invoice.
Do some research on solar energy; I hear you can rewire your homes to use solar energy for almost every equipment in your home. We have enough sunlight so I am sure it can work well in our favour.
Let us bring some competition in this country for JPS, after all look at what it has done for our telecommunication sector.
I am, etc.,
THE RESOLUTE LAYMAN
Gclarke_2@yahoo.com
