Giovanni cooling Portmore one fan at a time

As Jamaicans endure the sweltering heat, Giovanni Colquhoun, a fan repairman in Portmore, St Catherine, is playing his part to make life more comfortable during the hot days and humid nights.

The 30-year-old, who specialises in the repair of small appliances such as fans, microwaves, blenders, irons, said he has already seen an up tick in the demand for his fan-fixing services.

"Nuff people dem fan stop work and dem nuh have the $10,000 or the $9,000 fi go buy back a fan," Colquhoun told THE STAR.

Jamaicans have been enduring a torrid dry spell, and with summer still weeks away, many a fearing that the blistering heat could leave them roasted. In addition, the outlook for rain is not great. The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, in its precipitation outlooks for the Caribbean region, said there was a 40 per cent chance of below-normal rainfall in Jamaica for the period May to July.

"Right now a fan is life, enuh," Colquhoun told THE STAR. "The bills dem high and people cyah afford AC, caah you know how dat go already, so if yuh fan guh even kunk out pan you now, it coming like a death," he added.

Colquhoun told THE STAR he was first exposed to fixing fans and other small appliances when his neighbour would recruit his help during his summer holidays. He was barely a teenager when he started.

"A gentleman weh me live next door to, him usually have the business. So inna the summer me usually go amongst him and start get a few tips on how fi repair things," the fixer man said.

The then 13-year-old's interest in engineering and electrical installation grew. After graduating from the Meadowbrook High School, Colquhoun began working a 9-5 job, but was never satisfied working for someone else.

Seeing the gap left in the market by his now deceased mentor, he decided to turn his pastime into his profession.

"You have a lot of people fixing fridge and washing machine and those large appliances --not saying I cyan do dem, enuh, cause I know a little about them -- but chu mi nuh see nobody a fix fan or none of these small appliances, a that's why mi take it up fully," he said.

Mindful of the tough economic climate, the gifted repairman said that not only does he charge a small fee for his services but he offers warranties to his customers.

"Every fan mi fix, mi give dem a two-month warranty, so if it stop within two months time dem just carry it back and mi fix it again for free," Colquhoun said.."