KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Opposition People’s National Party says Friday night’s island-wide power outage has once again highlighted that the treatment plants operated by the National Water Commission (NWC) remain “dangerously dependent” on the Jamaica Public Service grid, leaving thousands of citizens across the country without access to water.

“Across this country, thousands of Jamaicans are without water because this Government has refused to make the shift to solar technology,” said the party’s spokesman on water, Ian Hayles in a statement.

“We witnessed the same devastation in Western Jamaica during Hurricane Melissa, and yet the Minister stood before this nation during the budget presentation and offered absolutely nothing new. It is the same old, same old, nearly one hundred per cent dependency on the power grid, and ordinary Jamaicans are paying the price,” Hayles added.