THE Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) Mutual Aid team has left for Jamaica to assist with power restoration efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

Minister of Public Utilities, Barry Padarath, Parliament Secretary in the ministry Shivanna Sam and High Commissioner to Jamaica Debra Thomas-Felix met with the team at the Piarco International Airport’s Diplomatic Lounge, on Monday morning.

Padarath spoke of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s mutual relationship with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

He said, “Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and Prime Minister Holness have been in constant contact with each other. This morning, we are here as a result of that solidarity but closeness that both Prime Ministers share in the interest of the people of Jamaica and in the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Padarath said, “We stand in solidarity with our brothers in Jamaica, knowing that we provide that level of assistance to them today, but having had the experience yesteryear when they would have provided that level of assistance in one way or the other.”

He said that an assessment team from T&TEC arrived in Jamaica on October 31 to provide technical support, as 55% of the island was still without electricity.

Padarath said, “The data coming out of Jamaica tells us that there are specific areas, particularly in the Montego Bay area, where there are large swaths of the country that have not been able to restore their power supply.”

The T&TEC team consists of 25 members, selected from different departments to provide the necessary support for the restoration of electricity.