By Patrick N. Tokpah
(Bong Contributor)
The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has officially signed an agreement with Jungle Energy Power to take over its Bong County power grid in a public-private partnership initiative.
The LEC is a public utility created in 1973 by the Government of Liberia which was developed through an act of Legislature with a mandate to produce and supply economic and reliable electric power to the entire nation, while at the same time maintaining the corporation financial viability.
Intrinsic in this mandate is the responsibility for improving and expanding the system to meet future growth.
LEC therefore obtains the responsibility of ensuring that efficient, reliable, and affordable electric power is available, not only to meet the increasing demand for electric energy in Liberia but also to serve as a catalyst for socio-economic development.
The agreement gives Jungle Energy Power the authority to manage electricity in Bong County that is being supplied from the neighboring Ivory Coast.
At the official signing ceremony over the weekend in Gbarnga, the Director of the Economic Growth Office and Acting CEO of the Liberia Electricity Corporation, Monie Captan said the signing of the agreement is a giant step in effective electricity management.
Captan added that public-private partnership would assist ongoing efforts to supply effective electricity to Liberians.
He stated that Liberia recently owed the Ivory Coast ten million dollars for electricity supply and had to pay.
Capatan then frowned at power theft; adding that it undermines the viability of the nation’s power sector.
The Chief Executive Officers of Jungle Energy Power, Floyd Tomah, praised the LEC for allowing his company to manage its electricity facilities in Nimba and Bong Counties.
Mr. Tomah added that they have connected 3, 000 households and look forward to connecting additional eight thousand by the end of this year.
