Liberia: Massive Disconnection Targets Delinquent Govt's Agencies

29 June 2022
The New Republic Liberia (Monrovia)

Government Agencies are said to be on the neck of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) that they cannot breathe due their huge indebtedness to the institution.

This has caught the attention of the Board of Commissioners of the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) thus expressing dissatisfaction on how the energy sector is being treated by those public agencies.

The Board of Commissioners (BOC) of the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) said that they are displeased that several public agencies have accrued an energy debt of US$1,321,196 from the supply of electricity services by Liberia LEC.

The Commission in a release called on the management of the LEC to immediately embark on a massive disconnection exercise of these 'delinquent and persistent debtors'.

This action, the BOC notes, is in accordance with Regulation 28 of the Customer Service and Quality of Supply Regulations which provides that "A service provider may disconnect service to a customer when the customer: fails to pay a bill for the service for more than 14 days from the date of the delivery of the demand for payment by the service provider".

The management of LEC recently informed LERC's BOC that several autonomous Agencies and Commissions of government have failed to settle their energy debts and were now in a "delinquent status" with the Corporation.

Institutions indebted to the Corporation include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Independent National Human Rights Commission (INHRC), Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), National Housing Authority (NHA), National Transit Authority (NTA), National Aids Control Program (NACP), National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), National Drug Service (NDS), National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), and the University of Liberia (UL).

Dr. Lawrence D. Sekajipo, Chairman of LERC BOC, said that "the Commission supports LEC's decision that persistently defaulting customers and illegal electricity consumers be immediately disconnected by the Corporation".

There remains a compelling need for consumers of electricity to continue to pay their bills to ensure that the public electricity utility, the Liberia Electricity Corporation, generates enough revenue to provide a reliable and stable service to the people of Liberia, Dr. SekaJipo noted.

The Commission expresses thanks to the President of Liberia, Dr. George M. Weah for the overwhelming support to LEC on proposed measures for collecting arrears including termination of service to delinquent customers and the immediate disconnection of customers that are illegally connected.

Read the original article on New Republic.

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