IPNews-Monrovia: The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) says it has adopted tougher and sophisticated prosecutorial methods to ensure that individuals engage in acts that undermine revenue generation are made to account for crimes committed.
According to LEC Manager for Information and Public Affairs, Mambu James Kpargoi residents of Nezoe Community were told during a town hall meeting Saturday that the measures, which include effectively charging offenders
with the appropriate modes of responsibility have led to recent guilty pleas by two
notorious electricity theft suspects, including the Nigerian national, David Lee.
The LEC said ongoing efforts to enact laws
that would designate electricity theft as economic sabotage which would deny
offenders bail, would sustain and bolster current measures and campaigns and would no doubt deter others from wanting to engage in the crime.He disclosed that recent raids conducted by the Energy Monitoring Crew of the
LEC in various communities disconnected hundreds of illegals from the national power grid. He sternly warned offenders that the LEC and the criminal justice system are uncompromising in their efforts to prosecute offenders and drastically reduce power theft.
Kpargoi reiterated that LEC inventories, which include meters, transformers, light
poles, electrical cables, etc. are not for sale. He warned residents against paying
money for LEC inventories maintained that the LEC in collaboration with state
security officers would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute anyone found buying
or selling LEC inventories.
He used the occasion to inform residents that the LEC was expecting a consignment of transformers to arrive in the country by the end of May. Communities with medical facilities, he noted would be given high priority during the deployment follow by others with police stations, due to their significance in the maintenance of law and order.
Mr. Kpargoi said this was part of ongoing efforts by the LEC Management team to
ensure that communities and residents across the network enjoy increase access
to electricity with minimum interruption.
Residents of the Nezoe community were agitated over the presence of three 15kva transformers, which were allegedly bought by three individuals who were claiming ownership and charging US$150.00 for per household to get connected to a transformer.
The angry residents, through their representative, Trokon Shaw, thanked the LEC
for the speedy intervention in ensuring that a potential conflict did not erupt.
Mr. Shaw used to occasion to appeal for further investigation into the alleged sale of transformers by some LEC employees.
He called on the LEC management to prioritize the James Davis Hospital, which is
currently asking stay in patients and those wanting to undergo surgery to provide
fuel for the generator. He said the residents would be extremely grateful if the LEC could use the available three 15KVA exclusively for the hospital.Also speaking during the gathering,
LEC Assistant Manager for Information and Public Affairs, Winston W. Bedell apologized to the Nezoe residents for the prolonged power outage due to faulty 100KVA transformer.
Bedell said the LEC Management Team is extremely concerned about the Nezoe
community due to the presence of a medical center which cater to several less
fortunate and underprivileged people.
Bedell informed residents during the community meeting of a project funded by the Kfw Bank of Germany, which covers Nezoe is expected to connect additional 16,000 new homes to the national electricity grid. He appealed to residents who are not currently connected to the national power grid for their patience until the project is implemented.
