Devon Evans, Gleaner Writer
OCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
AFTER MONTHS of delay, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has finally made good on its promise to conduct an audit of the Jamaica
Public Service Company's (JPS) customer information system.
OUR Director General J. Paul Morgan announced yesterday that auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has been contracted to carry out the audit.
Mr. Morgan said the audit, which will examine a slew of issues related to the JPS billing system from meter reading to the
issuing of bills, is expected to be completed within 12 months.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
The OUR director general was addressing members of the St. Ann business community at a meeting held at Almond Tree Restaurant in Ocho Rios.
The OUR promised in November last year to conduct the audit after a number of JPS customers complained that they were experiencing billing problems, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
"So it (the audit) will look at the entire ambit of the billing process as well as other issues relating to the computation of the bill," he said.
The contract was reportedly signed on Wednesday and, The Gleaner has learnt, it may be valued at approximately $10
million.
Mr. Morgan said the audit should have been completed already but that the delay was a result of complications in negotiating the contract.
