MONROVIA – Some residents of Matadi in Sinkor, Monrovia have expressed dismay over the negligence of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) to restore electricity to their community after an employee of the entity damaged their transformer through
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
According to residents of the Central Matadi Community, an employee of the LEC only identified as Mr. Grant with other men wearing LEC vests went into the community in an LEC pickup 012 install a transformer.
“When they did the installation, they connected the new transformer to ours. Shortly after we just heard a loud sound and our lights went off,” a resident of the community told FrontPageAfrica.
Richard Glaydor, another resident who took the initiative to contact the LEC to restore electricity said, he has given up visiting the offices of the LEC to have the transformer repaired.
“They damaged our transformer and they are refusing to come and repair it despite several efforts we have made. When it happened, I went there, I met Mr. James Kpargoi, the Public Relations Officer, I also met Winston Bedell. I’ve been to customer service, I’ve called the hotlines. I showed them the pictures of the connection and they acknowledged that the connection was wrongly done. Yet, they are yet to come,” Glaydor explained.
Glaydor believes the transformer is not completely damaged and if only the Corporation could send a team, it will be repaired.
“Sometimes the light comes on by itself. This means the transformer is still working; maybe a wire is not tightened well,” he said.
Another resident who asked to be named said, the refusal of the LEC to respond to the situation since they were notified over four weeks ago is leading to an increasing rate of power theft.
“Others cannot be having current around you and you’ll be in the darkness. Everybody around us have current, so now, I see a lot of people doing illegal connections now. They are passing wires underground. Why will I continue to be in the dark if someone can supply me current. So, if LEC wants to stop power theft in this country, they have to respond to situation. If they don’t people will find their own means of getting current, including stealing it.”
Members of the community said it is disheartening that they will spend the festive season without electricity due to the negligence of the LEC.
“Christmas is around the corner, our children are on vacation, we have money in our meters but no electricity. When will have a proactive public utility entity in this country, when will LEC meet up its responsibilities?” another resident asked.
He explained that it is very expensive running a generator every night when the electricity problem can be easily solved by the LEC. According to him, the LEC has to contribute to the President’s pro-poor agenda by being robust in the performance of their duty.
Another resident who only identified himself as Mr. Kanneh expressed worry over the LEC employees doing wrongful connections and the consequence it could have on homes.
“LEC technicians should not be making mistakes with electrical connections. Every now and then, we hear about houses burning due to electricity due to illegal connections, then even the legal ones are now causing problems for us,” he said.