April 16, 2026 • 2 min readJamaica Brief
So mi just get off the phone wid mi auntie in Westmoreland and she tell mi the light STILL not back. Six month, people. SIX MONTH.
THE WESTMORELAND DARKNESS SITUATION
Mi auntie say she cooking by candle like is 1987. Minister Vaz say rain a slow dem down. The same rain that fall every year in Jamaica — the country know bout rain — somehow catching JPS off guard. Mi not saying anything. Mi just saying my auntie been in darkness since October and the man a talk bout rain like is surprise.
Read More → April 16, 2026 • 3 min readJamaica Brief
Good morning from Kingston, where the rain that stopped JPS from fixing Westmoreland’s lights has apparently decided it lives there now.
SIX MONTHS LATER, 2,764 STILL WITHOUT POWER
Hurricane Melissa made landfall last October with 185 mph winds and a bad attitude, and nearly six months on, 2,764 customers in western Jamaica are still waiting for the lights to come back. The majority are in Westmoreland. Energy Minister Daryl Vaz told a post-cabinet briefing that torrential rains have cost the restoration effort 13 lost days of work. The irony of rain stopping the repair of damage caused by a storm is not lost on anyone in Westmoreland, least of all the people sitting in the dark.
Read More →