St James Municipal Corporation Moving to Improve Cable Aestetics in Montego Bay

The St. James Municipal Corporation is spearheading a project aimed at improving health and safety as well as the aesthetics along certain streets across the city of Montego Bay where cables have been dangling from Jamaica Public Service Company, JPSCo poles.

In making the disclosure, Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation and Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis says for too long cables belonging to major service providers such as Flow, Digicel, Cornwall Communications and other companies have been dangling from the Jamaica Public Service Company poles, posing a real threat to the lives of citizens.

On Friday, June 19, 2020, Mayor Davis led a delegation which consisted on representatives of the JPSCo and other service providers on a tour of Jimmy Cliff Boulevard where a number of breaches were observed and plans put in place for them to be immediately addressed.

Mayor Davis said “for a very long time the issue of cable dangling from JPSCo poles have been a concern to the St. James Municipal Corporation. The matter has been on the agenda of the Corporation’s Physical Planning and Development committee meetings for a while now, so this is a major step forward in having the issue addressed. These cables are what they are and citizens may not be able to identify electrical cables from data cables, so the dangling wires pose a threat to live and property”.

He said during the tour, the representatives of the companies involved admitted that enough attention was not being paid to the maintenance of the cables which are affixed to JPSCo poles through an agreement with the utility company.

“The running of cables for phone, cable and internet service has become a part of the daily operation of these companies. However, I am sure that as a result of this meeting, we should see a more professional approach being employed in the running and maintenance of cables. We have seen where disconnected cables are allowed to dangle, cable not being affixed properly which are real and present danger to the citizens of our city and parish. The discussion during the tour was frank and direct and company representatives willingly admitted the faults relating to their cables and the way is now clear for a new approach to the running and maintenance of these cables,” Mayor Davis said.

He added that “among the new policies going forward is a colour coding of the cables-giving each supplier a specific colour tag which will be affixed to their lines. This will be an easier way to identify which company’s cable is loose and they can be contacted directly and immediately. Where JPSCo poles have been changed and the old pole remain because data cables are still affixed to then, these will be removed immediately”.

Mayor Davis said once the issues which have been identified along Jimmy Cliff Boulevard are addressed, the focus will move to the other areas of Montego Bay with similar challenges.