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The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has given approval for the establishment of a 211 helpline for children at risk or for anyone who wishes to report child abuse.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Fayval Williams, as she made her contribution to the 2021-2022 Sectoral presentation in the House of Representatives.
“This helpline will be manned 24 hours (per day) by child care professionals and will be a significant addition to the child protection ecosystem. We will be launching 211 during this year’s Child Month (in May), and a further announcement will be made on the technical aspects of this important initiative,” Williams revealed.
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has reported a 51 per cent increase in customer complaints in 2020, compared to 2019.
In a release, the OUR said there were 6,345 contacts during the year, compared to 4,190 in the prior year.
Matters relating to Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) received the highest number of complaints when compared to the other utility companies. There were 2,448 complaints about JPS in 2020, up from 1,571 in 2019, registering a 56 per cent increase.
The National Water Commission (NWC) received the second highest number of complaints - 1,253 in 2020, compared to 984 in 2019, a 27 per cent increase over the year.
The OUR said billing matters accounted for 49 per cent of the contacts during the year, and reflected a 61 per cent increase over 2019, as there were 3,109 complaints received relative to billing in 2020, compared to 1,927 in 2019. Jamaica Public Service Company and NWC accounted for the highest numbers of billing-related complaints, said the
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