Rural parishes will have to wait for power

RESIDENTS OF several rural parishes may have to endure a long, dark weekend.

Winsome Callum, head of corporate communication at the light and power company, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), said this was as a result of damage to "critical elements of the transmission system" in rural areas resulting from the passage of Hurricane Sandy.

"Right now, the parishes that are likely to take several days, into the weekend possibly, are St Ann, St Mary, St Thomas and Portland," Callum said.

She told The Gleaner "the wind and rain resulted in a large number of broken lines and poles."

"There was a high incidence of trees falling on lines - this caused lines to break, and in some cases pull down poles. JPS has an ongoing vegetation management programme, but some of the trees affecting our system were outside the company's control," Callum said.

The JPS communication head said that the company is working overtime in the rural parishes to ensure power is restored is short order.

nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com