Opposition wants urgent renewable energy measures for NWC following islandwide blackout

The Opposition says the islandwide power outage and its impact on National Water Commission (NWC) plants, which left thousands across the country without access to water, highlight the need for the Government to embrace solar technology to power water facilities to help keep the country running during disasters.

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has reported that a series of “significant lightning activities” near critical power plants triggered a “cascading effect” that plunged the entire country into darkness for several hours from Friday into early Saturday.

Yesterday, the NWC reported that approximately 65,000 customers remained without water supply as a result of the outage and said it was working towards full restoration.

Opposition Spokesperson on Water Ian Hayles, in a statement on Sunday, argued that the NWC remains dangerously dependent on the JPS national grid and that the Government needs to undertake an urgent and decisive policy shift.

"Across this country, thousands of Jamaicans are without water because this Government has refused to make the shift to solar technology. We witnessed the same devastation in Western Jamaica during Hurricane Melissa, and yet the Minister stood before this nation during the budget presentation and offered absolutely nothing new. It is the same old, same old, nearly one hundred per cent dependency on the power grid, and ordinary Jamaicans are paying the price," asserted Hayles.

The failure to act, Hayles argued, is not merely an oversight but a governance crisis that threatens public health, tourism, and the daily lives of citizens in heavily populated communities nationwide.

"I am calling on this Government to immediately implement a policy position that moves critical NWC infrastructure onto solar and advanced renewable technology. We cannot continue to hold this nation hostage to a single point of failure. Generators must be deployed now to critical areas, our tourism corridors, as well as our largest population centres and residential communities. The people of Jamaica deserve better, and this Opposition will not rest until they get it."

Hayles is demanding that the Government table a comprehensive energy resilience plan for the water sector within the current parliamentary session.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.