JPS gives Darliston Primary temporary office for principal
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From left: Phillip Whittingham, JPS director of generation asset management; Vernon Lawrence, project lead, Hermit Foundation; Sameer Simms, JPS vice-president of generation; Jerome Bacchas, councillor for the Darliston Division in Eastern Westmoreland; Mitzie Marshall-Moodie, principal of Darliston Primary School; Pete Mandobe, chairman of Darliston Primary School; and Pia Baker, JPS senior vice-president for customer experience and commercial, participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the handover of the temporary office for the principal who had been operating out of her car since Hurricane Melissa.
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Pia Baker (back left), Digicel Foundation CEO, Charmaine Daniels (back centre) and Sameer Simms (back right) with some children from the Darliston Primary School, following the ribbon cutting for a new temporary office for the principal and the distribution of some back-to-school support for students.
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Marilyn McDonald chats with a young student from Darliston Primary School in Westmoreland.
Like many schools in western Jamaica, Darliston Primary School in Westmoreland suffered significant damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. For months after the storm, the principal was running the school from her car, which served as her makeshift office.
However, the new school year has started on a better note. JPS, which had installed an Emergency Mobile Power Generation Unit at the school to provide temporary electricity to hundreds of residents following Hurricane Melissa, saw an opportunity to help the principal and, by extension, the school. Once normal electricity service had been restored earlier this year, the company repurposed the container that had housed the emergency unit, turning it into a temporary office for the principal.
JPS Vice-President of Generation Sameer Simms said the idea was a natural extension of the unit’s original purpose. “When we learnt that the principal had been working from her car because Hurricane Melissa had destroyed her office, we saw another opportunity to serve,” he said.
The refurbished office was officially handed over to the school in time for the new school year.
Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Eastern Dr Dayton Campbell welcomed the support, noting the importance of partnerships as communities continue to rebuild.
Campbell said his advocacy for the people of Westmoreland has always been grounded in service and the uplifting of the community, noting that his engagement with JPS has yielded tangible benefits for residents.
JPS Senior Vice-President of Customer Service and Commercial Pia Baker said the initiative was another step towards normality for the school. Recalling her first helicopter view of the devastation across western Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa, Baker said the experience remains with her.
“I cried,” she recounted. “The pilot and other passengers were also deeply moved by the cataclysmic scene of flattened communities and the humanitarian crisis to follow.”
She said JPS remains committed to the continued support of communities beyond the restoration of electricity. The company has also provided back-to-school assistance, including book vouchers, to students at several schools in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth.
The Digicel Foundation also joined the handover, presenting school supplies to students in attendance. Digicel Foundation CEO Charmaine Daniels said the organisation’s relationship with the community has continued from the immediate aftermath of Melissa through the recovery period.
“We have been present in this community since the passage of Hurricane Melissa, and we remain committed to supporting the school and its students as they continue to rebuild,” Daniels said.