Cabinet briefing: JPS blackout probe advances as demerit system still targets October 1

At Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing on July 15, 2026, Energy, Transport and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz and Education Minister Morris Dixon updated Jamaica on power resilience, road enforcement, rural transport and school financing.

Vaz said the Jamaica Public Service Company filed its technical and investigative report on the June 5, 2026 island-wide blackout with the ministry and the Office of Utilities Regulation on time. The Government is reviewing the findings through an inter-ministerial process. JPS engaged Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Dana Danavo Energy Solutions (formerly Quantum Services), Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and General Electric. Findings and any corrective steps will be made public, and Vaz expects JPS to speak soon.

On traffic, he confirmed former Island Traffic Authority director general Colonel Daniel Price resigned effective June 30. Lieutenant Colonel Sheldon Bryan, seconded from the Jamaica Defence Force, assumes the post on September 1, with early priorities including the demerit point system, ITA modernisation and restoring the Black River examination depot within 30 to 45 days.

More than 1.1 million traffic tickets remain outstanding. Vaz said the demerit regime cannot advance without tackling that backlog and may need transitional law changes after stakeholder talks. An October 1, 2026 start remains the target, with possible amnesty for some outstanding fines but not for licence suspensions under the new points system. Zero-tolerance enforcement stays non-negotiable once it runs.

He also cited the rural school bus programme, launched in September 2025, as serving about 349 schools on 86 routes with roughly 90 buses and about 8,000 students daily, without serious student injury. Cabinet still wants more buses, subject to Ministry of Finance talks after Hurricane Melissa. Danville Walker became Petrojam general manager on July 1, 2026; funds tied to Venezuela’s former share remain in litigation and have not been repatriated.

Dixon said public schools are receiving about 55 per cent more operational funding on average — roughly $755 million extra — with heavier lifts for primary and special-needs schools. Former small grants are now one flexible operational grant paid in three tranches from mid-June. Hurricane Melissa repair contracts will be published twice monthly, while a US third-country national transit deal is limited to 25 people every two weeks once operations are finalised — not a 10,000-person scheme. Top PEP performer Niraj Sahukar of Creative Kids Learning Academy led the top 10, nine of them prep students.