Durrant Pate/Contributor

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness on Tuesday (July 15) met with a delegation from Marubeni Power International, one of the two majority shareholders in Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), the sole domestic light and power generator.

The visit comes in the midst of the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ) announcement in June that it will not be negotiating for an extension of JPS’s all-island licence in its current terms but is looking for a better deal for the Jamaican people.

The Marubeni team was led by general manager Seji Kawamura, with Dr Holness acknowledging that the Japanese company is a key stakeholder in Jamaica’s energy sector.

He said Marubeni, which is a global leader in energy and infrastructure, “has played a vital role in the modernisation of our energy infrastructure. Our discussion focused on continued investment, reliability, and sustainability in Jamaica’s energy future.”

Up to 2011, Marubeni was the major shareholder in JPS with 80 per cent equity, but that year, it sold half its shareholding to Korea East-West Power with each holding 40 per cent of JPS shares. The remaining shares are held by the GOJ with 19.9 per cent and smaller investors, who trade their shares amounting to 0.1 per cent on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

JPS is the sole electricity distributor in Jamaica, responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution. More than 1,600 JPS team members provide service to over 692,000 customers each day.