Launtia Cuff, Gleaner Writer

BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth:

THE JAMAICA Public Service (JPS), with the aid of the police, has removed just under 3,000 illegal electrical connections and has made four arrests in its anti-theft initiative in St Elizabeth.

Kevin Smith, JPS customer care manager for St Elizabeth, told the monthly meeting of the St Elizabeth Parish Council last week that the initiative was a part of the company's effort to improve the quality of service that is offered to its customers, who bear some of the burden of the cost that stolen electricity incurs.

So far, anti-theft initiatives have been launched in the communities of Buena Vista, New Holland and Point, he said.

Cutting Losses

Smith also mentioned other measures that have been put in place to curtail losses, such as the repair or replacement of faulty equipment, and added that there were measures to decrease the number of outages in the parish.

He said the company aims to improve the image that is perceived of the company by residents in the parish.

"JPS was seen in the public's eye as an arrogant monopolistic kind of an organisation. As a company, we took a step back, looked at the situation, and did some internal assessment,' Smith said.

He added: "Since October 2012, we changed all of that by, first of all, putting in a decentralised organisational structure, which means that St Elizabeth is autonomous; operates on its own. It has its own management structure in place, decisions will be made quicker; it is structured in such a way to cater to the needs of the residents in St Elizabeth."

Meanwhile, as a part of its effort to improve the light and power company's image, the St Elizabeth branch hosted a mobile office in Santa Cruz last Friday, where customers accessed most of the services that were offered in office, at a more convenient location.

rural@gleanerjm.com