The Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) has provided the media documentation that proves that the fuel lifted from its White Plains facility was authorized by the management for supply to its Buchanan, Kakata, Fiamah and Gantry facilities.
The LWSC management also clarified that the fuel in question was not that which was donated to the LWSC by the World Bank, as part of support to its COVID-19 Response project.
Nimpson Todd said, “In April this year, when we requested emergency assistance from the World Bank through its COVID response project, our decision was based on the fact that there is a compelling need to pump uninterrupted water to our people, especially during the current health crisis when majority of the city and its environs inhabitants were being made to stay home by the Presidentially declared State of Emergency.
“We want to assure the people of Liberia that all COVID response assistance from the World Bank inclusive of fifty-nine thousand gallons of diesel fuel and chemical supplies are in tight, as all reports regarding the use of these donations are being submitted to the World Bank,” LWSC’s Todd noted.
“LWSC wants to clarify that the diesel fuel being reported as theft was an act of legitimacy, as the product in question was being transported to the Corporation’s outstations in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County and Kakata, Margibi County, as part of the Corporation’s operational routine to enhance the supply of pipe-borne water, and was not being sold as is being reported.”
A copy of the LWSC memorandum, which permitted the lifting of the fuel, in Hot Pepper’s possession shows that the request for the lifting of 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel for the Fiamah and Gantry stations was made on June 3 by Deputy Managing Director for Administration, Moseray Momoh, to the Deputy MD for Technical Services, McArthur Hilton. The document shows that the Managing Director and all his principal deputies signed and approved the request.
On that request, 500 gallons were requested for the Fiamah facility, while the other 500 was for the Gantry (the facility opposite Fish Market).
Another 1,000 gallons were transported to the Buchanan and Kakata facilities on May 2.
Todd said the fuel were purchased by the LWSC for the smooth running of its operations.
“The World Bank fuel that came in had specific adherence attached to it. It was not meant to be used at the Buchanan or Kakata facilities, but before the World Bank came in we had been using our meagre resources to serve the Liberian people clean and safe pipe-borne water, and that is the focus of the LWSC,” Todd said.
He insisted that the LWSC is in perfect standing with the World Bank, as several projects and commitments of the Bank to the people of Liberia through the LWSC are well on course. The diesel fuel provided by the World Bank, he said, is for use at the White Plains Water Treatment Plant, WTP, sewage (desludging) and operational activities at central.
