Monrovia – For months now, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has complained about massive losses which affect its revenue due to power theft, but the corporation has exerted efforts to curb power.
Report by Al-Varney Rogers [email protected]
Targeting slum and low income communities, LEC recently extended anti-power theft campaign to businesses, and it was shocked that the famous Monoprix Supermarket had been bypassing the meter reading device responsible for monitoring the usage of a consumer.
Another business on Benson Street opposite MONOPRIX supermarket was caught with 100 freezers connected illegally.
According to LEC, battling power theft is probably the toughest part of their job.
LEC alarms that apart from the theft, the production of sour milk (yoghurt), ice cream and cool aid are happening in the most unsanitary conditions.
Since the LEC new team took over, it has arrested several thieves as it intensified the anti power theft campaign.
The Liberia Electricity Corporation has largely blamed power theft as the major hindrance impeding the progress of the corporation, but LEC subscribers say poor customer service is responsible for the corporation’s losses.
On its last raid, LEC revealed that it lost over US$300,000 monthly to power theft and that cooperation spent time on repairing when it should be making progress.
“We’ve been getting a lot of complains from residence in this area that they have been experiencing a lot of issues with their meter and their transformer , so we are carrying out a campaign in this entire community in this next few days,” said Soko Sackor, LEC Managing Director.
“We are rehabilitating meters, rehabilitating lines, testing of meters.”
“We are just trying to make the people know that we care. Our objective for the next 15 days is to rehabilitate over 1000 lines.”
“Over 1000 customers’ lines will be rehabilitated or reconnected,” Sackor said.
Sackor urged the community to take charged of campaign and that they should not allow unauthorized individual to connect or bring down meter.
“We both have to help each other.”
“So we are launching a massive campaign in collaboration with the media, in collaboration with the citizens too as well. If you see anybody connecting any faulty meter or anybody connecting meter that they should not be connecting or bringing meter down, let us know.
The campaign has already started,” Sackor said.
The New LEC Managing Director said the management new team has disconnected more than 250 illegal meters in West Point as well as other communities, while describing the campaign as a city wide campaign.
Sackor said in other to augment the anti-power theft campaign, LEC is also launching a massive campaign, adding that
“We are zero tolerance toward it.”
“We are asking the community too to join us, because the people who are stealing current are from the same community. So we are asking you to be vigilant,” he said.
“Inform us of these individual who are stealing current; because it makes it difficult for us to generate revenue to come and connect you. Because if you do not let us know, and you don’t help us in this fight, it means we all will be affected.”
The Head of Communications at LEC Mambu Kpargoi added that the corporation will continue with its massive raid of communities so as to “significantly” minimize electricity theft.
Kpargoi said the prosecution of people involve in power theft continues to be a difficult task for LEC, and at the same time complained about the lack of laws on the book to cut back such crime.
“We have some challenges and one has to do with the persecutory part of it, sector like the electricity sector actually needs tough laws, so that this kind of activity like power theft are not profitable to those engage in it,” Kpargoi said.