CURE SCORES VICTORY FOR JAMAICAN CONSUMERS

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2012

Betty Ann Blaine

CURE SCORES VICTORY FOR JAMAICAN CONSUMERS
• Landmark Supreme Court Ruling
• Monopoly License Declared Invalid and Illegal
• Door Open to Competition in Energy Industry

Dickie Crawford

Citizens United to Reduce Electricity (CURE) is celebrating the landmark decision handed down in the Jamaica Supreme Court today in which the monopoly license of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) was declared invalid and illegal.
The ruling comes almost one year after CURE initiated a class action suit challenging the JPS' monopoly license. CURE argued that the license granted to the JPs in 2001 contravened Section 3 of the Electric Lighting Act which prohibits the granting of an all-island exclusive license. The claimants are former Senator Dennis Meadows, Children's Advocate, Betty Ann Blaine, and businessman, Cyrus Rousseau.
Founding member of CURE, Dickie Crawford expressed the view that "this ruling by the Supreme Court will now enable the government of Jamaica to move much more confidently in diversifying and developing a modern energy industry."
Continued Crawford, "We have always contended that the high cost of energy has been the single greatest deterrent to Jamaica's economic development. This ruling therefore gives the country the opportunity to deal with the pressing problems of economic development and competitiveness in the world economy."
Another founding member of CURE, Betty Ann Blaine describes the victory as "superbly historic and important. This is a victory for the people of Jamaica, and we thank the citizens of Jamaica for their support as we pursued this case. Monopolies are never good for consumers. Jamaicans are seeing how competition in the Telecoms market is benefiting them. That is exactly what we expect to see happen when the energy market is open to competition", says Blaine.
CURE is urging all Jamaicans to take advantage of this new development and to support the drive toward cheaper and more reliable electricity supply.


CONTACT:
Dickie Crawford, Founding Member, CURE: 366-1966
Betty Ann Blaine, Founding Member, CURE: 294-8125, 462-0628