Belizean Line Workers Help Restore Jamaica’s Power

Belize Electricity Limited is celebrating the return of a team of line workers who just wrapped up a critical mission in Jamaica. The crew left Belize on November twelfth to help restore power after Hurricane Melissa slammed the island, knocking out electricity for hundreds of thousands of people. Led by Line Supervisor Tyrone Reynolds, the team, including Kareem Lopez, Perr Tillett, Ethan Alvarado, Bladimir Alvarez, Adolfo Oliva, and Kendale August, worked shoulder to shoulder with crews from across the Caribbean under CARILEC, the regional utility alliance. Their job was to rebuild service lines and support Jamaica Public Service as recovery efforts pushed forward. BEL says it’s proud of their dedication and sacrifice, calling this another example of Caribbean unity in times of crisis. BEL’s Manager of Distribution Operations Ashton Webster says his team is back and BEL couldn’t be prouder.

 

Ashton Webster, Manager of Distribution Operations, BEL

“The team was tasked to do restoration effort in Westmoreland Savannah, the Lamar area. The area was completely devastated. That was the most impacted area in Jamaica. So the team were – they had a lot of experience gained a lot of experience in the restoration effort. The guys were able to assist Jamaica with, from sixty-seven percent when they left in terms of restoration effort and when they came back. Jamaica was at, yeah, eighty-four percent. They had a great experience  in terms of experiencing the culture there in Jamaica. It was good. They were a bit taken aback beside – because of the devastation. They haven’t seen any damage like that. We’ve had our own hurricane here in Belize. But that was a category one hurricane, category two. But this is the first time they’ve seen such damage and devastation. Words cant express  how I feel in terms of what they represented. They’ve represent Belize, BEL. Us as a country and what Belizean can do once we’re trained. We are very capable here at BEL, so I’m extremely proud of them. They’re currently on vacation so we gave them a small gesture in terms of thank you. So we hope they and their family get together because they were away obviously for a while. So we hope they take this time to bond with their family and a Merry Christmas to them.”