Opposition Spokesman on Energy Phillip Paulwell has suggested that amendments to the Electricity Act should include provisions to address emergency situations, such as hurricanes.

His comment comes as many Jamaicans remain without electricity following outages caused by Hurricane Beryl.

Speaking during today’s meeting of the Joint Select Committee that’s reviewing the legislation, Mr. Paulwell said there is a gap in the act which must be addressed to ensure that provisions are in place for emergency situations.

Meantime, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz reminded Mr. Paulwell that disaster response falls under the operations of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, ODPEM, which is spearheaded by the Ministry of Local Government.