Monrovia – The National Bureau of Concessions (NBC) has threatened to take several punitive measures against the management of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) for what it termed as the LEC management’s willful and intentional disregard of the Act creating the NBC.
The NBC accused the LEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Paschal Buckley, of refusing to submit a copy of the contractual agreement with the government and other relevant instrument (s) that grant him and his institution to operate at the LEC.
When contacted, the LEC management did not respond to FrontPage Africa’s inquiry up to press time.
In a communication to Mr. Buckley, NBC Director General, Atty. Edwin Dennis said the refusal of Mr. Buckley to adhere to the NBC request on or before the 31st of December 2021, will leave it with no alternative but to among other things, request the revocation of Mr. Buckley’s work permit and subpoena the LEC through court action to turn over all documentations needed to enable the NBC conduct its statutory mandate of monitoring and evaluating the LEC performance as per the existing agreement.
Excerpt of the communication: “… The National Bureau of Concessions is requesting that you submit or cause to submit any and all documentations requested from your institution on or before the 31st of December 2021 by the close of business at 5:00pm.
It continued: “Your failure to do so will leave the NBC to take any and or all of the following actions: A request to revoke your work permit within the Republic of Liberia; provide information to the World Bank Project Office about your willful and wanton disregard for the legal authority of the NBC to monitor and evaluate your institution’s contractual operation; a fine on your institution for the violation of the NBC Act and to Subpoena through court action all of the documentations that would enable the NBC carry out her statutory mandate to monitor and evaluate your contractual obligations.”
According to Atty. Dennis, Mr. Buckley was first written on December 11, 2020 to submit the documents, but his response to the NBC lawful request has been either doggy or flagrant disregard for the law creating the NBC.
Owing to his “unwelcomed attitude” towards the NBC, Atty. Dennis said the NBC informed the Chairman of the LEC Board of Directors, Monie Captan. But since then, the NBC is yet to see a change in Mr. Buckley’s action; something he said constituted to a ‘willful and intentional disregard’ for the Act creating the NBC.
The NBC, in line with the Act establishing it, is in charge of monitoring and evaluating compliance with concession agreements in collaboration with concession entities. It serves as a source of technical expertise to support all aspects of concession processes.
The LEC, on the other hand, was established in 1973 through an act of Legislature that mandated it to oversee the country’s generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity supply.
However, in 2017, as part of the Liberian Energy Sector Reform Project, a Management Service Contract (MSC) was tendered to international parties, with ESB International, an Irish based company, assuming management control of LEC in January 2018.