The sight of placard-bearing Jamaicans demanding justice for one thing or the other is almost a given on local newscasts. Sadly, ever so often these cries fall on deaf ears. I unfortunately do not have any placard, but I, too, am demanding justice and I am demanding this from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).
In November I got home from work late one night to find my St Catherine community in utter darkness. A check with a neighbour revealed that the area had been experiencing a power outage from earlier that day. I lit my candles and kerosene lamp and went to bed praying that my month's supply of grocery would not go bad by the time the electricity returned.
The next morning it was still not back, and constant checks with my neighbour, while at work, revealed that power did not return until much later that afternoon. I excitedly went home. But my joy was shortlived. When I got inside I discovered that not one, but all three television sets in my home were damaged. It's still not known if this damage occurred when the power went out the day before or when it returned.
I called JPS Customer Service Department and was told that the outage was a result of a "blown transformer". I was told I could send my complaint via email, and that's exactly what I did in great anticipation that I could get some compensation for my damaged TV sets, which all had been plugged into surge protectors.
After weeks of waiting and checking I was told an investigator would visit my home. In early December the investigator scheduled a visit resulting in cancelling my plans to accommodate him. But the minute he left that day so did my hope that I would get any redress, as all he did was examine the wires on my meter post and wrote down the serial information on the back of all three sets. The clearest indication that this investigation would not yield a positive result was the investigator's failure to even attempt to test if the sets were, in fact, not working. Had I known the sole purpose of his visit to my home was to record the serial numbers, I could have opted to give him this information and save JPS the cost of travelling to my home and me the headache of having to reschedule my plans.
It would appear to me that JPS preferred to send someone out to my house to record the serial number of the television sets than to compensate me for the repairs, as I found out last month when I again called to get an update. I was sent a copy of a letter informing me that checks by JPS found no negligence on its part as the transformer was damaged by lightening; an act of God.
While I understand that lightning is an act of God, but is the JPS's system so vulnerable that every lightening strike can damage a transformer? What does the company have in place to mitigate against such occurrence? Moreover, no one I spoke with can recall having experienced lightning that day. Today, I am seeking justice from JPS and I would hate to think that it will fall on deaf ears as I am still without the use of my TV sets.
I Brown
buttercloves@yahoo.com
JPS, I want justice!
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In November I got home from work late one night to find my St Catherine community in utter darkness. A check with a neighbour revealed that the area had been experiencing a power outage from earlier that day. I lit my candles and kerosene lamp and went to bed praying that my month's supply of grocery would not go bad by the time the electricity returned.
The next morning it was still not back, and constant checks with my neighbour, while at work, revealed that power did not return until much later that afternoon. I excitedly went home. But my joy was shortlived. When I got inside I discovered that not one, but all three television sets in my home were damaged. It's still not known if this damage occurred when the power went out the day before or when it returned.
I called JPS Customer Service Department and was told that the outage was a result of a "blown transformer". I was told I could send my complaint via email, and that's exactly what I did in great anticipation that I could get some compensation for my damaged TV sets, which all had been plugged into surge protectors.
After weeks of waiting and checking I was told an investigator would visit my home. In early December the investigator scheduled a visit resulting in cancelling my plans to accommodate him. But the minute he left that day so did my hope that I would get any redress, as all he did was examine the wires on my meter post and wrote down the serial information on the back of all three sets. The clearest indication that this investigation would not yield a positive result was the investigator's failure to even attempt to test if the sets were, in fact, not working. Had I known the sole purpose of his visit to my home was to record the serial numbers, I could have opted to give him this information and save JPS the cost of travelling to my home and me the headache of having to reschedule my plans.
It would appear to me that JPS preferred to send someone out to my house to record the serial number of the television sets than to compensate me for the repairs, as I found out last month when I again called to get an update. I was sent a copy of a letter informing me that checks by JPS found no negligence on its part as the transformer was damaged by lightening; an act of God.
While I understand that lightning is an act of God, but is the JPS's system so vulnerable that every lightening strike can damage a transformer? What does the company have in place to mitigate against such occurrence? Moreover, no one I spoke with can recall having experienced lightning that day. Today, I am seeking justice from JPS and I would hate to think that it will fall on deaf ears as I am still without the use of my TV sets.
I Brown
buttercloves@yahoo.com
JPS, I want justice!
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