BVIEC Rebuilds Montego Bay Line
The British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) has deployed a crew to Montego Bay to rebuild a power line supplying a water plant and hospital after a Category 5 hurricane. General Manager Dr Neil M. Smith said the team left within days and will remain for at least a month as part of regional mutual-aid efforts coordinated through CARILEC.
The British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) has dispatched a crew to Montego Bay, Jamaica, to rebuild a power line that supplies a local water plant and a hospital, BVIEC General Manager Dr Neil M. Smith said during the "BVI Stands with Jamaica and Haiti Disaster Relief Telethon" on November 9, 2025.
Dr Smith said the BVIEC team — which may have been the second utility crew to arrive in Jamaica after the Category 5 hurricane — mobilised quickly as a member of the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC). "We had our team ready by the Friday after it hit, which was the day after, and they left on the Sunday," he told telethon viewers.
Stationed in Montego Bay, the BVIEC crew is focused on restoring a line that powers a water treatment plant and a hospital. Dr Smith reported that the technicians are in good spirits and are not daunted by the scale of the work: "I’m quite pleased we had the opportunity to assist our sister utility.
They came to us in 2017 when we had Irma and Maria, and they did a lot of work for us, and we’re quite grateful for the assistance they gave us, and I’m pleased that we now have the opportunity to return that favour." The deployment is scheduled for an initial one-month period, after which BVIEC will assess the situation and decide whether to extend the mission or bring the team home.
Dr Smith acknowledged the operational sacrifice involved in sending personnel overseas but said the relief effort is a responsibility the corporation accepts willingly: "It’s actually a sacrifice to us, but I really don’t mind doing it at all because we are our brothers' keepers." For Virgin Islands residents, the deployment is a reminder of the close ties forged among Caribbean utilities during and after major storms.
The reciprocal assistance given in 2017 — when Jamaican crews helped the BVI following Hurricanes Irma and Maria — remains a key part of regional recovery planning and resilience-building. BVIEC’s participation in the telethon and the field deployment underscores the territory’s role in wider Caribbean disaster response.
The corporation says it will provide updates as the mission progresses and as assessments determine whether additional support will be required in Jamaica.
Primary source: VINO