The Liberia Electricity Corporation’s caveat to the general public that power theft is a crime and an act that is a major driver of commercial loses at the entity is disregarded by residents of Wein Town, Pipeline.
“Power theft is causing the entity serious problem in providing adequate services to its customers around the country, and that electricity is key to development,” the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LEC, Monie R. Captan, has alarmed.
“The goal of the government is to ensure that every citizen has access to electricity, and not to deprive anyone of the right to electricity,” Captan added.
Electricity is life and security, and it is every citizen’s right to have access to it, as the LEC has said. But power theft is on the rise in Wein Town, Pipeline community, with employees of the very corporation aiding the illegal connections.
The community is infested with criminals and power theft as a result of residents themselves abetting the process.
During the distribution of the World Bank’s Electricity Project in slum communities of Montserrado County a few years ago, residents of Wein Town, Pipeline, prohibited LEC from planting light poles in the community, according to some residents who want meters and light poles.
The community is pro-Bassa, and they prevented the poles planting on their land. As a result, LEC has vowed not to take light poles into the community and plan them, according to those who recently migrated there and refused to subscribe to illegal connection.
After the rejection of legal LEC connection, the entire community is now engaged with power theft connections, using sticks as poles and connecting from light poles from the main road into the community.
“They charged us US$35.00 to connect, and now charging US$50.00 for newcomers to connect. We pay US$10 monthly,” said lawless residents who are subscribed to power theft heroes.
To minimize or eradicate illegal connections, Mary Broth, GSA boss, has been appointed by President George Manneh Weah as co-chair on the anti-power theft taskforce. Since the power theft campaign fight was launched, Broh has urged citizens to be law-biding by purchasing the meter, which is US$50.
Her news about battling power theft has spread like wildfire, causing some communities that are engulfed with the act to disconnect themselves, but for Wein Town, Pipeline, they have disregarded the promotion of Broh’s anti-power theft taskforce mandate as residents are being reminded by illegal connectors to pay their monthly US$10 fee at the end of November for the use of power.
“Since no light poles are planted and illegal power use is on the rise, Madam Broh has to rearrange the community according to LEC’s plan,” some law-abiding residents who are not subscribed to the illegal connectors have said.
In a related development, Liberia recently signed a power purchase agreement for 27 additional megawatts with CI Energies, Ivory Coast, and that there is 192% increase in the amount of energy that is available to supply the country, which will go a long way in meeting the challenges that was faced during the last dry season.
“I can assure you that we’re not going to have the same situation from last dry season, but we all need to do our part to ensure that this is sustainable when we all pay our bills,” Captan said. “Anti-Power Theft Taskforce is not intended to intimidate the Liberian people but to make all of those who are not legal customers to be legal customers by appealing to the public to be patient with LEC and stop hiring people in the communities, who are not LEC employees, to climb the pole.”
The LEC is also challenged to carry out its operation smoothly.
“Be patient with LEC. We have 185,000 customers, 250 vehicles. Assuming that 500 persons call a day, we wouldn’t be able to attend to everyone. Because people are not patient they hire people in the neighborhood to climb the pole; it causes problem because they are not authorized to do so,” Captan, LEC’s CEO, noted.
“Warning to those who are using LEC to make business by selling LEC’s power; those are the people we are going after,” Captan said at the time. “We have to change this attitude.”
LEC has warned the public to report anyone, upon seeing him or her on the light the pole without an ID card of the corporation.