THE Government announced Tuesday that it has now paid off its long-standing arrears with the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company for street lights, and that it intends to keep payment current in the future.
“After today we will have no arrears for street lighting from the JPS,” Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke announced while piloting the third supplementary estimates through the House of Representatives.
Dr Clarke explained that the new estimates included a payment of $2.1 billion to the JPS which, added to the $7.2-billion payment made in January, has now covered the Government’s debt to the power company of $9.3 billion.
He said, too, that by paying off the street light arrears, the Government has now put the country in a very strong position to bargain with the JPS in respect of the company’s provision of electricity to the country.
“I don’t think we have been in this position to be current with the JPS in a very, very long time,” the minister commented.
He informed the House, however, that the funds for the payment of the light bill, as well as several other services addressed by the new supplementary estimates, would not affect the total $802.5 billion budget which was approved in January when the second supplementary estimates were approved by Parliament.
“The revised estimates for 2018/19 indicate there is no deviation between expenditure outturns projected in the second supplementary estimates, approved in January, and the third supplementary estimates, which are before us now,” Clarke noted.
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