VIRGINIA – In a momentous occasion, President George M. Weah has officially launched the Liberia Electricity Corporation’s (LEC) Gap Communities’ Electrification Project in District #17, specifically covering Virginia and Brewerville. This event marks the end of long-standing electricity woes in these areas.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh – gerald.koinyeneh@frontpageafricaonline.com

The Gap Communities Electrification Project, spearheaded by the LEC management team, aims to extend the reach of electricity within communities and provide more citizens with access to efficient and affordable power. This initiative is a crucial step toward fostering national socio-economic development and enhancing the quality of life for residents in these beneficiary communities.

This ambitious expansion effort targets communities previously left out of donor-funded electrification projects, effectively bringing light to areas in need.

President Weah’s symbolic act of switching on the LEC “Gap Communities” electricity expansion in Virginia and Brewerville signifies a significant milestone in Liberia’s development and progress.

During the official switching-on ceremony in the “God Bless You Hill Community,” President Weah reaffirmed his commitment to serve his people as a “talk-and-do” President. He pledged continuous support from his office for the LEC Gap Communities Electricity Project, emphasizing its vital role in electrifying Monrovia and its surroundings.

With the illumination of Virginia, Brewerville takes a significant stride toward bridging the energy gap that has hindered progress in many parts of Liberia.

President Weah expressed confidence in the appointment of CEO Monie Ralph Captan, stating that it was not a mistake because he believed Captan was the right person for LEC. He expressed gratitude to Captan and his team for bringing smiles to the faces of the people.

“When we decided that we were looking for a diligent person to help us light our cities, towns, and districts, I immediately appointed you, and I knew that you and your team were going to move LEC forward, and our family, friends, and community will be happy to have their community lighting. So, Mr. Monie Captan, I want to thank you and your team for putting smiles on our people’s faces,” he said.

Acting LEC CEO and Chairman, Monie R. Captan, revealed that, with the support of the Government of Liberia, the “Gap Communities” electricity expansion program has extended to Virginia and Brewerville, providing electricity to over 2,180 homes and businesses.

Captan assured the residents that LEC’s commitment to expanding access to electricity was unwavering and that they would continue until all homes in the area were connected. He thanked President Weah for his support and highlighted the connection of 2,180 homes, with more to come.

Dele Shobayo, Executive Director for Engineering and Major Connections (PEMC) at LEC, described the Gap project as a noble program aimed at improving the lives of citizens by stimulating socio-economic activities and providing adequate security within communities. He highlighted the significance of providing electricity to communities, especially for students who can now study at night.

Shobayo acknowledged the challenges faced by LEC over the years, particularly in the aftermath of the civil war, when its generation and distribution capacities were severely damaged. However, the management has made significant progress in increasing customer connections, with around 250,000 customers currently served. This expansion effort is expected to further boost these numbers, with over one million people now having access to electricity in Liberia.

In a similar event in July of this year, LEC, led by CEO Monie R. Captan, and community leaders inaugurated electrification projects in several communities, including the 72nd Army Camp Field Community in Paynesville, Lonestar Cell Community, Jacob Town, and Iron Factory, bringing electricity to over 5,000 residences in these areas.

MONROVIA – Amid the recent challenge faced by the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) in distributing electricity tokens to customers due to a system failure on its token distribution vendor, LIBANGO, the Corporation says it has henceforth decided to establish alternative vending options, including direct token sales at its customer service centers.

This decision, according to the LEC, is intended to ensure that the customers do not experience the inconvenience they had to face in the past week to purchase tokens.

The downtime at the LIBANGO’s system occurred on August 25 and rendered the entire system inoperative and prevented customers from purchasing tokens. The LEC was, however, not initially equipped for direct retail distribution.

According to the LEC, while LIBANGO has reported that its vending platform is now restored, it is conducting due diligence to ensure that the LIBANGO system remains stable.

Monie Captan, Chief Executive Officer of LEC, expressed gratitude to customers for their patience and commitment to paying for electricity despite the challenges. He emphasized the importance of customer behavior in fostering a culture of responsible electricity consumption.

“In order to avert a repeat of this situation, LEC will put into place permanent alternative vending options, including the direct sale of tokens at its customer service centers,” Mr. Captan stated. “We expect to restore normal service incrementally within the next 72 hours if all goes as planned.”

Meanwhile, LIBANGO, in a press release, issued a formal apology to its valued customers and partners for the disruptions caused by the technical difficulties on its end. They acknowledged the inconvenience faced by LEC customers and expressed their commitment to resolving the issue promptly.

The release explained that unexpected technical challenges had disrupted their services, affecting the purchase of electricity tokens through various channels. LIBANGO has been working closely with LEC to identify and address the root causes of the problem and to implement measures to prevent future occurrences.

LIBANGO acknowledged the frustration and inconvenience experienced by customers and reaffirmed their dedication to providing reliable services. They stressed that they were fully focused on restoring normalcy and improving the stability of their systems.

Dear Valued Customers and Partners,

We would like to take this opportunity to address disruptions in purchasing your electricity tokens due to technical difficulties on our end and want to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. We deeply value your trust and want to assure you that we are committed to resolving these issues as quickly as possible.

What Happened:

We have encountered unexpected technical challenges that resulted in disruptions to our services. These difficulties have affected LEC customers, making it difficult to purchase electricity tokens via the normal channels, such as LEC Vendors, GSM & Digital Payment Services and Banks.

Response:

As soon as we became aware of the technical difficulties, our dedicated teams sprang into action, informing LEC and working with them on plans in getting our system issues resolved. Both Libango and LEC have been working tirelessly and around the clock on interim solutions to identify and fix the root causes and implement solutions that will prevent such occurrences in the future.

We Understand Your Frustration:

We understand that the reliability and performance of our services are crucial to your daily life and operations, and we apologize for any frustration or inconvenience this situation may have caused you. Libango has had consistent uptimes and success delivering electricity tokens throughout the years, with this being the first incident of it’s kind. We are, and always have been committed to providing you with the reliable services you deserve.

We take these issues seriously and are fully focused on restoring normalcy and enhancing the stability of our systems.

Your trust is paramount to us, and we are fully devoted to regaining your confidence. Your partnership and patience are greatly valued as we work through these challenges.

Signed,

The Management of Libango

Monrovia – The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has been grappling with technical challenges on its Libango vending platform over the past four days, leaving customers without access to electricity tokens. This disruption has affected various purchasing methods, including Libango vendors and popular digital platforms such as MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money, TipMe, and the Ecobank Mobile App.

To address the inconvenience faced by its customers and ensure continued access to electricity, LEC has taken immediate action. Temporary vending points have been established at strategic locations including the Waterside Headquarters, Bushrod offices, and the Anti-Power Theft campaign site at Duport Road. This emergency measure was put in place on Sunday and will be expanded as needed until the issues with Libango’s platform are completely resolved and regular vending services are restored.

In addition to the existing temporary vending points, LEC is actively working to minimize customer travel and waiting times. Plans are underway to establish more accessible locations to better serve customers efficiently. Simultaneously, LEC is exploring alternative options such as mobile money operations and banking platforms to further enhance the customer experience.

The corporation is committed to keeping the public informed about additional vending locations and alternative payment methods as soon as they become available. Updates will be communicated through various channels, including news media, the LEC website, and the corporation’s social media platforms.

While addressing the current challenges, LEC is working diligently alongside Libango to expedite the restoration of normal vending operations. The corporation acknowledges the inconvenience caused by these technical issues and extends a sincere apology to its cherished customers.

LEC says it remains dedicated to providing reliable electricity services to the people of Liberia and is taking every necessary step to rectify the situation swiftly.

Monrovia — The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has announced a significant expansion in its energy generation which now allows Liberia to export electricity to the Ivory Coast.

This marks a key milestone in Liberia’s energy landscape.

According to Chief Executive Director of the LEC, Mr. Monie Captan, the decision to ramp up energy exports comes as the nation takes advantage of surplus electricity generated during the rainy season from the Mt. Coffee Hydroelectric Plant.

According to Captan, Liberia exported a substantial amount of electricity to the Côte D’Ivoire’s power grid through the West African Power Pool’s CLSG (Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea) interconnection. The move has not only demonstrated Liberia’s energy export potential but has also contributed to the reduction of Liberia’s debt with Côte D’Ivoire Energies (CIE).

“We are pleased to inform you that we exported $547,933 worth of electricity to the CLSG, while our imports through the same grid amounted to $76,740. Our net income from these exports stands at $471,193, which will be credited against our debt with CIE,” stated Monie Captan.

Captan added: “The surplus energy export has been made possible by the optimal performance of the Mt. Coffee Hydroelectric Plant, which has benefited from the rainy season’s increased water flow. This excess electricity generation has translated into export earnings that will contribute significantly to offsetting LEC’s energy bills with CIE.”

Despite this promising development, concerns have been raised about the persistent challenges related to domestic electricity distribution. Brewerville City, in particular, continues to face a lack of electricity supply. However, Captan said, the absence of electricity in certain communities stems from the inadequate distribution network infrastructure.

“The reason communities are not connected is due to the lack of a distribution network in those areas. This requires funding to build medium and low voltage transmission and distribution backbone, along with transformers and service drop materials,” Captan explained. He further emphasized that funding from donors takes time, but LEC has already initiated efforts to connect some communities independently.

Highlighting the financial constraints, Captan acknowledged that expanding the electricity network is a costly endeavor, and resources are limited. He urged the community to address the issue of power theft, as it significantly impacts LEC’s revenue collection and hampers the extension of the network.

To address the challenges of electricity meters, Captan revealed that LEC is taking steps to resolve the issue. “We will be receiving 100,000 meters next week, which will help in improving metering accuracy and reducing losses,” he stated.

“The Liberia Electricity Corporation’s endeavors to boost energy exports and address domestic electricity challenges underscore the nation’s commitment to achieving a more robust and reliable energy sector, while also contributing to regional energy cooperation,” he said.

MONROVIA – The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has informed its customers and the public of its new regulations of power shedding due to low energy with huge consumption to serve everyone.

Report by Francis G. Boayue, francis.boayue@frontpageafricaonline.com

According to LEC, its decision is backed by high energy consumption which has increased thus impacting the supply of available energy and therefore instituting new measures in other to meet the needs of all of its customers with limited load shedding.

“The management of the Liberia Electricity Corporation wishes to inform its customers and the public that energy consumption has increased significantly thus impacting the supply of available energy. Therefore, and in order to meet the needs of all customers, it has become necessary to institute limited load shedding. The network peak load has increased from an average load of 55MW to as high as 73.2MW during the evening hours,” the LEC statement said. 

LEC says as a result of the increase in energy demand, it has exceeded its 27MW contracted from Cl energies of La Cote d’Ivoire to help compensate for its energy supply deficit which represent the maximum allocation available to each CLSG country.

The LEC is, however, urging all of its customers to manage their current appropriately by turning off some of its appliances during evening hours.

“The LEC is urging its customers to conserve energy and turn off appliances and lights when not in use, especially during the evening hours when consumption is exceedingly high. Energy conservation by consumers will reduce the energy demand and the level of load shedding,” the LEC statement added.

LEC further assured its customers that an additional supply of electricity is planned for next dry season to address the constant problem of energy supply deficit in the dry season.

Monrovia – The Gardnersville Magisterial Court on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, issued a writ of arrest and imprisoned a 27-year-old man identified as James Tamba for stealing LEC Meters and streetlights in the Beh-wein Community in Barnersville – Montserrado County. The writ also added that defendant James Tamba was purporting in the Beh-wein Community at 1:30AM on Sunday, October 30, 2022, as an electrician of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC).

Following up with Court officials on the issue, the Coordinator of the Power Theft Task Force of LEC, Madame Mary Broh called on the Government of Liberia to set up a fast-track court to try anyone caught stealing the electrical power, LEC meters and streetlights. Madam Broh is also warning that the government will shortly introduce a stringent measure to prosecute would-be criminals. “We want to elevate the process of handling power theft currently and prioritize that within the Judiciary,” Madam Broh emphasized. 

Madame Broh added that in many countries, this type of crime is classified as economic sabotage.”  “So, we are working with the government to make sure that all those caught in power theft are taken through a quick (fast-track) court process. She indicated that despite their robustness in curbing the power theft, they need the support of various communities in Monrovia and its environs. According to her, some communities are supportive in helping the LEC fight power theft but added that the efforts from every community are needed

Madame Broh also disclosed that they are working with the communities and political leaders who are residing in the various communities to help the special taskforce team with information about illegal connections. Because of the support from the Behwein Community in Barnersville, Broh stated the 27-year-old man identified as James Tamba, was arrested for “power theft” on Sunday morning. Tamba has been charged with theft of property and has been forwarded to the Monrovia Central Prison by the Gardnerville Magisterial Court for illegally tempering with power lines, meters and streetlights of the Liberia Electricity Corporation.

“LEC considers the arrest as a major boost in the fight against electricity theft’,” Madam Broh stated.

Monrovia – The family of a 28-year-old employee of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) who suffered a deadly electric shock while on duty has alleged neglect by the management of LEC.

Gabriel Borbordee got injured on May 25 by a 2500kw high tension power line while on a pole trying to connect houses in Monrovia’s Capitol Bye-pass community.

He had since then been bedridden to date and receiving treatment at the government-run John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital. The family immediately launched an appeal to the management of LEC for advanced medical treatment abroad, which they said would be “most guarantee to save their relative’s life”.

One week after, the victim’s family alleged that the management of LEC has abandoned their relative despite assurances of paying the medical expenses and funding his trip abroad for advanced treatment. 

In an emotion-laden voice, the father of the victim, Mark Borbordee, said his son’s condition is worsening and the LEC management “has not given a dime or applying efforts to send his son abroad for treatment”.

“If this has been one of their senior managers in this condition, they would have flown him out of the country by now, but because it’s someone’s child, they are playing a blind eye to his health,” the father said.

“The management of LEC continues to play delay tactics for our son to be flown to Ghana. They told us to be patient until his body is cleaned up before being flown out of the country, but yet we haven’t gotten a word from the LEC management.”

“Our family has written a formal communication to the LEC management about how our son’s condition is worsening but they seem to be ignoring our concerns.”

“We have paid over $500 for the one week our son has been admitted here at JFK and we have gone out of cash to buy materials prescribed by doctors to treat him,” the father said.

“They convinced us that they wanted to clean the dead skin and afterward they will refer us, but nothing has been done since the dead skin was cleaned.”

Borbordee, however, pleads with the LEC management to work with the JFK Hospital to do the referral note so that his son be transferred abroad for treatment. 

“We are asking the management of JFK to work with the management of  JFK to do a referral note that will enable the family takes our son to Ghana, where we are already making arrangements for him to be treated at the 37 Military Hospital in Ghana,” the father said.

The acting chief executive officer of LEC, Philip Jacques, when contacted, said there is an ongoing internal investigation on the matter, and thereafter the management would release an official statement. Hence, he did not comment on the allegation of abandonment made by the family or the intention of the management to fly the injured employee to Ghana for advanced treatment.

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 31^st 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 31^st 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.

Monrovia – A request from the Liberian government through the Liberia Electricity Corporation, requesting the banking institutions’ views on the potential for a single source leasing out of the excess capacity of the storage tank at Bushrod Island, on a short-term basis to Aminata Petroleum, has been rejected by the global body because it would hurt the capacity of the LEC to deliver electricity.

Report by Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com

Even more complicated for the request, is what industry observers fear could put the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) at a disadvantage.

LPRC  is the state-owned enterprise with the exclusive mandate to refine, store, distribute, and supply petroleum products to the Liberian market.

On July 31, 1989, an Act of the Legislature granted the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (“LPRC”) exclusive rights for the importation, sale and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products within Liberia.

Section 1 of the Act states that “The importation of all petroleum products for the Liberian domestic market, for internal use within the Republic of Liberia, and/or for transaction through the commerce of Liberia, shall be the sole and exclusive right of LPRC, and that NO entity, individual, concessionaires, public or private corporation nor any governmental entity, foreign or otherwise, shall import petroleum products into the territorial confines of the Republic of Liberia, except with the written consent of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company duly approved by the President of Liberia”.

$US11M Storage Tank Already at LPRC

Today, the LPRC owns storage tanks at its Product Storage Terminal (PST) near the Freeport of Monrovia where it stores and handles petroleum products for wholesale distribution.

In August 2017, the World Bank funded the Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) storage facility of approximately 5,280,000 gallons in enhance and support the continuous operations of the LEC’s thermal generation plants on Bushrod Island for a period of 90 days during the dry season.

The project, valued at US $ 11 million, is a component of the Liberia Accelerated Expansion Project (LACEEP) with an objective of increasing access to electricity and strengthening the institutional capacity of the energy sector.

As part of that project, the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MLME), on behalf of LEC, entered into an agreement with China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) for the demolition of the old LEC tanks and pipelines and the construction of the new facility.

The project was divided into two lots.  Lot -1 handles the demolition of damaged Pre-war Storage Tanks and pipe lines, site cleaning and preparation of waste disposals. This phase of works commenced May 15, 2015 and due to adverse weather conditions of the rainy season, implementation was delayed but was finally completed on January 2016.

Lot-2 handles construction of two new 10,000 cubic (2,640,000 gallons) capacity of HFO storage tanks; Construction of one HFO storage tank base for future expansion; Construction of one 1000 cubic meter (264,000 gal) capacity diesel storage tank; Construction of 1.8 km pipeline of transport HFO from Bong Mines Pier to the tank farm at LEC Bushrod Island Compound; Install several auxiliary but critical systems including the future the fire protection and Environmental Oil/Water Separator system and Construction of one new 2,500 cubic meter capacity water storage tank for the fire protection system.

The World Bank undertook the project with the goal of saving Liberia money.

“Based on our team’s technical review, the proposed transactions as presented would materially and adversely affect the financial  condition and operation of LEC. Therefore, I regret to inform you that the Bank would not at this time be able to provide the consent, or its no objection, to proceed with the proposed lease of the Storage Tank Facility.”

– Khwima Nthara, Country Manager, World Bank, in a Letter to Paschal Buckley, CEO, LEC, in possession of FrontPageAfrica

Prior to the construction of the facility, the LEC was spending more money because of the lack of storage facility. The goal of the storage tank was to relieve the entity from paying rental fees for storage facilities.

Additionally, the storage facility gave  the LEC the capability of transporting Heavy Fuel Oil directly from a vessel dock at the China Union Pier to the storage tanks and provides storage of approximately 5,280,000 gallons of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) that can support continuous operations of 38 Megawatts of Thermal Generation of existing Thermal Power Plants for a period of 90 days.

CHEC is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) and on behalf of CCCC to explore the oversea market. China Communications Construction Company is the world’s leading integrated service provider of large-sized infrastructure construction project.

CHEC entered the Liberian market since 2011 and actively participated in local infrastructure construction, including airports, ports, power plants, oil tanks etc

After investing US$11 million in the project, the World Bank and other international stakeholders are now baffled as to why the Weah administration would now want to wrestled that responsibility away from LPRC and give it to Aminata.

Likely Competition LPRC vs. Aminata

The move will in effect, make LPRC, a government entity, a competitor with Aminata.

On July 4, 2020, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill, wrote Mr. Gesler Murray, Minister of Mines & Energy, who is also the Chair of the Board of the LEC, argued that the storage tanks will increase Aminata’s storage capacity and enable them import additional petroleum products in the country to avoid the recurring shortages experienced in recent times. “This will improve service delivery and help to minimize  the security issues in the country,” the minister wrote.

Mr. Paschal Buckey, Chief Executive Officer of the LEC, in a letter dated February 14, 2020, also in possession of FrontPageAfrica, to the World Bank, sought the Bank’s blessing on the request.

The Bank’s country Manager, Khwima Nthara, in response to the request on the potential for leasing out the excess capacity of the storage tank at Bushrod Island, on a short-term basis to Aminata, said: “The Storage Tank Facility is financed under the ongoing Liberia Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project(Cr. 5252-LR and 5680-LR(the Project). I would also like to draft refer to your subsequent email communication dated July 20, 2020, forwarding a draft lease agreement for a proposed lease of the entire Storage Tank Facility for a period of 20 years to a third party. We understand that the third-party lessee is being selected through a single source process.”

Mr. Nthara added: “I would like to thank you for seeking our views on the new proposed lease arrangement as this is required under the Financing Agreements for the Project, including applicable IDA General Condition for Credits and Grants dated July 31, 2010, (General Conditions)which  constitute an integral part of the Financing Agreements. Specifically, Section 6.02(i) of the transfer, sale, lease or otherwise disposal of any property or assets financed wholly or in part out of the proceeds of an IDA Credit.”

World Bank’s Rejection Letter

The World Bank official said based on the team’s technical review, the proposed transactions as presented would materially and adversely affect the financial  condition and operation of LEC. “Therefore, I regret to inform you that the Bank would not at this time be able to provide the consent, or its no objection, to proceed with the proposed lease of the Storage Tank Facility.

Mr. Nthara, specifically expressed concerns since the proposed lease would be granted on a single source basis, it is not clear how it would yield maximum value for money to LEC vis-a-vie a competitive.

“We have the following concerns: Since the proposed lease would be granted on a single source basis, it is not clear how it would yield maximum value for money to LEC vis-à-vis a competitive bidding tender. Unlike the earlier plan of leasing only excess capacity, the proposed new arrangement envisages the entire bank farm facility to be handed over to the third-party operator for a period of 20 years without any recourse to LEC should it require to use the full capacity of the storage tanks for its own needs. The proposed arrangement would allow the operator to import and store other fuel products(not just HFO) in the storage tanks, and it is not clear how LEC’s HFO needs will be safeguard.”

The World Bank official said the proposal from the Weah administration also poses a significant financial risk to LEC. “For example, the proposed investments by the third party(book value of which is to be recovered from LEC in the event of an early termination of this 20-year-contract) seem excessive. These include US$7.5 million investment by the third party for upgrading and maintenance  of a relatively new facility has already been constructed under the Bank project). Besides these investments are in addition to US$28.5 million for working capital as well as US$2.5 million for other associated facilities. We note that the entire tank facility(2 storage tanks including the foundation for the third tank, and the associated

Facilities including the connection to the port and to the LEC HFO plants) cost less than US$10 million financed under the project.”

Additionally, Mr. Nthara said, the proposed arrangement does not guarantee  that LEC can purchase fuel for its own needs competitively from the international market to ensure competitive cost of fuel for LEC. “Under a previous budget support program that was approved by the World Bank Board on November 17, 2016, one of the prior actions that the Government of Liberia committed to was the introduction of an open and competitive procurement process for the importation of HFO for LEC’s own generating plants and mandating of all international competitive bidding process. The proposed arrangement, if implemented, would constitute a reversal of the prior action putting at risk future budget support operations which require continued commitment  to the adherence or implementation of previously agreed prior actions by the government. As we  work with the government and LEC towards the achievement of the objectives of the Project, we would be happy to consider the outcome of a competitive process for leasing the Storage Tank Facility based on careful consideration of the potential excess capacity as previously proposed.”

CONEX, SRIMEX in Similar Boat

This is not the first time an attempt has been made to create a competition for the state-owned LPRC.

During the presidency of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, CONEX Petroleum Group, headed by Cherif M. Abdallah was granted the rights for the importation, storage, sale and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products within the Republic of Liberia. This has created a direct competition with LPRC. This has put both the Liberian government and LPRC at a huge disadvantage because CONEX, unlike LPRC who doesn’t import, now has the advantage to earn massive revenue through direct importation and storage fees from their massive Product Storage Terminal.

Then Managing Director, T. Nelson Williams who signed the contract on behalf of LPRC, was immediately hired by CONEX to run their operation.

Additionally, SRIMEX headed by Musa Bility is also in direct competition with LPRC. Like CONEX, they were also given the rights for the importation, storage, sale and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products within the Republic of Liberia.

Despite the World Bank’s objection, FrontPageAfrica has been informed that the administration is insisting on moving ahead with the project. While there are no strings attached to the objection from the World Bank at the moment, one senior diplomat said Tuesday, it could hurt Liberia’s ability to secure future loans or grant from the international banking institution.