68 people charged for electricity theft
March 30, 2006
SIXTY-eight people, including eight business operators have been arrested and charged with illegally connecting to the Jamaica Public Service Company's (JPS) power grid since the start of the year.
The cases are currently pending in court.
The JPS, which lost approximately $2.6 billion in 2005 from electricity theft, told the Observer that it was able to identify the "irregularities" through the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS).
The GPS allows the utility company to identify the exact geographic location of all customers on its electric circuit. This means that the company is also able to detect any irregularities on the circuit.
Winsome Callum, corporate public relations manager, said "this strategy has been reaping significant benefits, whereby on one circuit with 54 business customers, 22 were identified with irregularities".
Callum added that the intelligence gathering from the JPS Customer Information System (CIS) coupled with field information had helped the company to "accurately discern customers suspected of irregularity".
The light and power company, she said, also used specialised test instruments in the investigation of premises suspected of utilising stolen electricity. The instruments helped trained JPS electricians identify the irregularities, she added.
Callum said that at least one JPS employee had been dismissed for stealing electricity for himself, and facilitating theft in his community. Other employees are also under investigation, she added.
In 2005, 400 people were arrested and charged for electricity theft, and almost all of them (98%) were fined when they appeared in court.
Author: Claudienne Edwards
Source: Jamaica Observer
