JPS head offers to help police conserve
Senior superintendent of police Yvonne Martin-Daley said she is concerned about the proposed 20% late payment penalty as proposed by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS). She says this will affect the police’s budget and thus their ability to do effective policing. Suerintendent Daley, who was at a JPS stakeholders meeting at the Jewels Dunn’s River Resort, St Ann on Thursday, June 19 explained that the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s bill is paid by the government and that it is usually paid late. She said that if this proposed 20% increase for late payment affects the police, then it will lead to more constraints on the JCF’s budget. “Our bills are paid by goverment so we always have to have a concern because we realize that there is always a constraint on funds and so because of that we do not have control over when the bill is paid. So if there is an added incease of over 20% it will affect our bottom line and that was the main concern we have,” the top cop said. Martin-Daley continued saying that: “We have a responsibility as managers to manage or budgets so we have to ensure that whataver we do is within the budgetary constraints.If we have less money to pay our bills because it increases by 20 percent then it will impact our ability to police. If they cut the electricity off because of non-payment of our bills or mounting increases then it will definitely impact us and how we carry out our business.”
CALL IN JPS
Kelly Tomlin, CEO and president of JPS explained that the proposed rate increase affects everyone including government entities. She however mentioned that it is dependent on the consumer’s rate class. While indicating that she was not aware of the amount of energy the police use, she said the JPS can help reduce that amount. “We are not sure where the police stations are in term of usage but there is no police station that we don’t think we can go in and help them reduce their bills. There is a lot we can do to help them manage any impact,” Tomlin explained. She said the light and power company is working closely with the government to help reduce the amount of electricity their entities use. “We are working with the government because they are challenged to pay us, meaning they don’t pay on time so we are presenting them with a plan that we believe can help them reduce their energy bills because we know righ now all government entities have a bill they can’t afford,” the president explained. Tomlin said the general concensus is that the JPS is asking for an increase that affects everybody… but companies should let the JPS come in and help manage the rate increase as there has not been a building that the JPS believes cannot benefit from efforts to lower their usage.
