“LEC Needs To Be Sued”

-Angry Liberians Averred

By Esau J. Farr

Liberians both at home and abroad have threatened to sue the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) for what they described as ‘poor and careless services’ being rendered to the Liberian society.

The aggrieved Liberians who called on a local radio station in Monrovia on Thursday morning said they were extremely disappointed in the authorities of the LEC for being so careless in providing the needed services to the public.

“For me, my attention is drawn to the little or lack of communication on the part of LEC authorities to inform the public or affected communities about challenges they face in providing services to customers,” one caller only identified as Fred from the New Georgia Community pointed out to OK FM 99.5.

Another Liberian who called in from South Korea angrily responded to the suffering masses of Liberia’s population saying, “I think you guys are talking too much in Liberia than taking actions against LEC. It is about time that LEC be sued and be made to pay for damages they cause as a result of irregular electricity”.

The statements from the concerned Liberians came following a passionate plea from a resident of the New Georgia Community (Timothy Paulus) near Monrovia for LEC to reconnect his community which he said has been without electricity for the last three months now.

The Barnesville Community is another community that has reportedly been out of electricity for almost four months now.

According to residents of the two communities, they have been living in perpetual darkness since LEC authorities last informed them that the transformers which were used to connect them were damaged and that they could be replaced soon.

Some of the affected communities said they got their prepaid LEC token, but due to the malfunctioning of the transformers, they cannot access electricity and are therefore forced to return to using generators as a means of providing electricity because electricity is security.

According to them, because of the high cost of fuel and gasoline in Liberia, only few residents can afford to run their homes on generators thereby aiding the increasing rate of criminal activities in their areas.

“Because many of us cannot afford to run generator to provide electricity, crime rate has drastically increased; thus, making us to live in perpetual fear of be armed robbed,” one of the callers from the Barnesville Community mourned.

Authorities of the LEC are yet to response to the claims.

The issue of access to electricity has and continues to be a major challenge for Liberians as they endure high cost and horrible means of accessing electricity that is not also reliable.

In Liberia, customers applying to be connected by the Liberia Electricity Corporation have to wait for about five months to one year before being served something that many believed is grossly responsible for power theft especially in Monrovia and its environs.