Mark Wignall | That long, dark night

Two Fridays ago, as you know, the lights went out in a nationwide power outage.  The first comfort to register its disapproval at about 8:00 p.m. was the bedside fan as it faded away. Then the overhead fan. Then a palpable yet unwanted wave of quietness. And then the discomfort of relentless tropical heat. Until daylight the next morning. 

Minister Daryl Vaz, from the super ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, was quick on the job and stated that the islandwide power outage was unacceptable and an investigation would ensue.  Let us back up a little to remember that monster hurricane Melissa destroyed a large part of the JPS grid in late 2025. As far as we know, the JPS built back a new grid.  

It has only been seven months since Melissa’s havoc; how can the whole island lose power?  The JPS blamed the outage on lightning.  Really.  I can understand if you have lightning in one area that there can be a local outage but the whole nation? Is the new grid that vulnerable?  If so, why?  

Was the new grid properly designed? The hurricane season for 2026 just began a little over a week ago. Hopefully, there will be no major storms affecting Jamaica, but at the very least there will be wind and rain.  Does last Friday’s incident mean every time there is some inclement weather the whole island will have a power outage?      

Jamaica needs a team of experts from overseas to assess the work done to restore the grid after Melissa’s passage and report on the condition of the grid.  Let us not forget that the Government of Jamaica loaned the JPS US$150 million to restore the grid.   

What type of grid did the Government of Jamaica get for US$150 million? I hope the haste to restore the electricity does not mean that the grid is not up to par. Big respect is due to Minister Vaz for quickly addressing the public about the islandwide outage. But as it was a nationwide power outage, where was the PM?  Mr. Efficient and Strategic.  

We have not heard a word from him. This could be a cold, calculated political move to put a key minister out there to show that the team is willing to take one on the chin for Dr Holness, the bigger boss. Especially if negatives arise. 

GLOBAL PUZZLEMENT OVER IRAN WAR

President Donald Trump and his cabal keep telling US citizens and the global community that America securing a “deal” with Iran is imminent.  Yet in the last few days, Iran shot down a US military helicopter costing more than US$40 million in the Strait of Hormuz area. The US responded with attacks on Iranian military targets in Iran. How is a “deal” imminent when both sides are shooting at each other? The evidence reveals that Trump, the president, is in over his head in this confounding geopolitical mess. 

He knows if he bombs Iran to the “stone ages” as he has threatened, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed for many, many months and the world economy will tumble hard.  So Trump has stopped talking like that. Iran knows Trump wants a “deal” in the worst way, so they use that as leverage. The Iranians are also strategically seeking to drive a wedge between Israel and the US by insisting that Israel must stop fighting in Lebanon against Hezbollah.  

It seems to be working. Trump has already lost his temper with the lunatic Netanyahu. After all these months of war, it is obvious that the Iranians must be hurting economically. That said, it constantly unfolds that the Iranians are also very cunning and strategic.     

JUST A DREAM ABOUT ROAD REPAIRS?

“The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) is inviting public comment until July 4 on a draft standard that sets technical requirements for every layer of road construction, from the earthworks beneath a road's surface to the asphalt-wearing course that vehicles drive on. The scope of the standard is broad…

"The works covered under these specifications include all labour, materials, equipment, and operations necessary for the construction of roadways, associated earthworks, structural backfill, granular layers, bituminous treatments, and asphalt concrete.”

Are we being led astray, especially in knowing that just about all big contractors are fully aware of road repairs standards? What they are very much aware of, too, is deliberately cutting corners. So the key has to be in drafting standards for front-line, supervisory staff. And stressing the sanctions. 

“The timing is pointed. Jamaica is currently disbursing some $40 billion through the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to its Road Network programme — known as SPARK — alongside the National Road Services Improvement Programme, the GO Road Rehab Programme, and parish-level repairs. Despite the scale of investment, newly repaired roads frequently develop potholes within weeks of completion, often after the first heavy shower.”

Another gap that has to be closed is tightening up the process of getting substandard work passed at the municipal authorities level.

A troubling concern is the lack of multiskilled professionals among local construction workers, unlike the Chinese workers, where a mason is also a carpenter and a plumber. We may not be able to invent long-lost cultural behaviours, but we can at least be aware of our limitations. 

For many years, we had no large group of people in a particular skill set, say road repairs, so that we could know where we fell at the quality level. Now, the Chinese are here for the long term. 

Such workers are more marketable because the basic skill level is automatically heightened. Plus, the willingness of the Chinese to produce quality work on road repairs must also be considered in pulling personnel as trainers.

This is not the time to feel ashamed of our limitations. It should, instead, spur a collective willingness to grasp at the new proposed standards in this most important aspect of our development.

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to [email protected] and [email protected]