JAMAICA Public Service (JPS) says its teams have intensified street lighting repairs across the island ahead of the Christmas holidays to ensure that the traveling public enjoys better lighting during the festive period.

This targeted effort, which began about three weeks ago, will repair nearly 5,000 streetlights across the island, the utility said.

Blaine Jarrett, senior vice president of energy delivery at JPS, reiterated the company’s stance on working with local authorities to ensure better lighting island-wide.

“We have worked closely with stakeholders, including municipalities, to ensure that cities are particularly well lit during this holiday season,” he said. “Repairing streetlights is part of JPS’s maintenance activities throughout the year. However, our repair schedule was disrupted by Hurricane Beryl and further hampered by several lights being impacted in the hardest hit areas.

Some of the thoroughfares already completed include Chapleton to Frankfield in Clarendon, Fair Prospect Main Road in Portland, Jose Marti to Windsor Heights in St Catherine and the Palisadoes Strip, a popular route for Kingstonians celebrating New Year’s Eve by watching fireworks over Kingston Harbour.

The utility has also collaborated with the National Works Agency (NWA) to facilitate the repair of streetlights owned by the government entity, with work underway on Bogue Road and Elegant Corridor (which extends from the Sangster Airport roundabout International at the Iberostar Hotel) in Montego Bay.

Asked about factors contributing to streetlight malfunctions, Orlando McKoy, director of transmission and distribution asset management at JPS, cited theft and motor vehicle accidents as two of the main reasons.

“The main challenge the company faces is the theft of electrical appliances. Street lights along the Palisadoes Strip in Kingston, the main Dyke Road and Hellshire roads in St Catherine and the Chesterfield stretch in St Andrew have been replaced several times due to the theft of JPS properties by criminal elements,” he said. -he explained.

The company says it continues to call on residents and authorities to play their part in reporting and holding perpetrators to account for major disruptions caused by the thieves’ actions.

The company also listed motor vehicle accidents as a major contributor to damage to streetlights and called for greater caution along roads to avoid inconvenience to customers, particularly over the Christmas period, where collisions are generally more frequent.