The trend of bypassing, and tampering with Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) meters is becoming rampant in the country, with more than hundred customers redirecting meters daily, the head of the LEC Anti-Power Task Force alarms.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, October 30, at the Anti-Power Theft Compound in Du-port Road, Paynesville, taskforce head, Madam Mary Tanyonoh Broh, warned against customers bypassing LEC meters.
She warns perpetrators to desist immediately, stressing that individuals or entities found in meter bypass will be apprehended under the Anti-Power Theft Law.
"We will not tolerate individuals and entities bypassing meters; if you are caught, the law will be applied, and when we catch you three to four times, you will be ably prosecuted, and that is equal to jail terms."
The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has repeatedly bemoaned persistently power theft that is robbing the corporation of thousands of dollars.
Madam Broh frowns at customers involved in fraudulent practices, including bypassing meters instead of obtaining pre-paid tokens.
According to her, more than hundred LEC customers have redirected electricity lines bypassing meters within a month, and over four hundred others have been tracked down by the Anti-Power Theft Task Force, and are being prosecuted.
She laments that the practice poses threats to the operation of the Liberia Electricity Corporation. She says anyone caught bypassing meters will be arrested and made to pay fines accumulating to the time they have been illegally consuming electricity.
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"If you bypass the meter, and we catch you, we calculate the amount of time you have been exploiting the corporation, and some of them we arrested paid 2000, 3,000, and up to 10,000 United States Dollars for their offenses. Three or four times if you are caught, that is equivalent to a jail term, and we'll not hesitate to send you to South Beach prison, she says.
She calls for collaboration between customers and operators, urging them to do away with power theft, while urging the public to purchase meters at the corporation.
Broh, popularly known as "general", for her no-nonsense approach in enforcing public regulations, reveals that the Liberia Electricity has on sale xpress meters at the cost of US$150 that costumers can obtain just in 24 hours.
She explains that the new express meter service is fast and reliable, is one key source of revenue generation for the corporation to enable it improve the sector.
