Jamaica experienced a nationwide power outage on Friday, leaving millions without electricity and prompting an urgent response from government officials and the country’s energy provider.
The island-wide blackout was confirmed by Jamaica’s Energy Minister, Daryl Vaz, who disclosed the development in a statement on social media. While the exact cause of the outage was not immediately known, authorities said efforts were underway to restore electricity across the country.
According to Vaz, power restoration began in some areas shortly after the incident, with energy officials working to restart all power generation stations to gradually return the national grid to normal operation.
“Some places have already started receiving power, and all power stations are being restarted,” the minister stated.
National electricity provider, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), said it had launched an investigation to determine the cause of the unprecedented outage.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness also acknowledged the situation and assured citizens that the matter was receiving urgent attention.
Minister Vaz described the blackout as unacceptable and announced that a comprehensive investigation would be carried out to establish what triggered the disruption and to prevent a recurrence.
The outage affected homes, businesses, public services, and critical infrastructure across the Caribbean nation, raising concerns about the resilience of the country’s electricity network.
Authorities have urged residents to remain calm as restoration efforts continue, while promising transparency in the investigation into one of Jamaica’s most significant power disruptions in recent years.
