Mr. Monie Captan, Head of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), says power theft still remains a challenge, despite the passage of power theft legislation criminalizing same by the National Legislature.
The law makes all forms of power theft a Second-Degree Felony punishable by jail terms ranging from two (2) years to seven (7) years and fines ranging from four hundred (US$400.00) to one thousand (US$1000.00) United States Dollars for individuals found guilty.
Despite the passage of the law, it seems unworkable and no quick fix solution because the first case taken to court by the LEC is still pending for over 2 years now and unresolved. It is seemingly frustrating because apparently, there is nothing the Corporation can do about it.
Captan said because of this, most of the Corporation’s employees and staffers who were engaged in suspected criminal activities by colluding with customers to by-pass installed meters, selling of the Corporation’s materials like meters, light poles, among others, thereby defrauding the company, have been sacked.
Captan told the state-owned broadcaster (ELBC) program “Super Morning Show” yesterday that the Corporation has the capacity to provide power supply to every resident in the country, but power theft still poses a challenge, which does not augur well for the country.
He went further that the corporation was losing revenue by 45 percent from power theft, but following the introduction of the taskforce by the General Services Agency (GSA) Director, Mary Taryonnoh Broh, that has dropped to 30 percent from last year until now.
With this, Captan continued that the corporation has increment both in customers and revenue collection up to 40 percent, to the extent that illegal connection has reduced and the demand for meters has increased.
Because of the growth in customers and that of revenue collection, he went further, the corporation is supplying power to Robertsport, Bo Waterside, and Sinje, as well as villages and towns in Grand Cape Mount, and the same goes in Margibi and beyond, stating that the corporation has the potential of meeting the demands of the customers.
“We are meeting the demands of the customers by providing power supply, which is a strong economic growth, and this is happening because we are focused in doing what we are doing for our country by not depending on donors to come and do for us,” he noted.
The LEC Head disclosed that 100,000 meters will arrive in the country this week in 16 44 foot containers, which is an effort in meeting the demands of the customers for electricity, stating that to connect 1 customer, it costs LEC US$300.00, which is a challenge.
He stated that in spite of that, without transformers, there cannot be power supply, and because of the overloading resulting from power theft, it can damage the expensive transformers, which can plunge affected communities into darkness.
He indicated that the corporation is rebuilding its structure, following years of destruction during the course of the civil war, revealing that pre-war customers were 35,000, but that has grown up to 245,000 from last year until now.
About Montserrado County being in darkness on the night of Monday, August 21, Captan admitted that the CLSG (Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea) transmission line went off, thereby dumping the entire load on the corporation, but power was restored in a few hours.
On the President’s mandate to connect residents of Brewerville Township, Electoral District #17, Montserrado County, he said feasibility study for that has been done and equipment are ready, but what is left is the financial support from the Finance and Development Planning Ministry.
On update on delinquent customers and employees’ monthly salary, Captan pointed out that government is regular in the payment of its bills despite the processing and the bureaucratic button-neck involved.
“Because of the improvement in reducing the illegal connection plus the payment of bills by customers, salaries are up-to-date, as the corporation does owe any employee,” Captan boasted.
