By Mabinty M. Kamara
As part of ongoing raids, the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) over the weekend stormed the Diamond Lodge Hotel in Koidu where they disconnected power supply from the facility for what they said was an illegal abstraction of electricity among other offences.
The facility was among other business places the authority raided on Sunday 4th February this year in Koidu, the headquarter town of Kono district in the eastern region which according to the Director-General of EDSA Joe-Lahai Sormana was to establish some of the causes of the revenue mobilisation challenges facing the power provider over the years.
At the Diamond Lodge hotel after the inspection, Mohamed I Jalloh Senior Technician of EDSA said there was an interference with one of two meters installed at the facility through which most of the loads were connected. The authority also discovered what they described as illegal usage of the electricity including a mismatch in the amount of credit that the hotel buys from the authority.
“A place like this, if they are doing the right thing by using the electricity appropriately and paying the right amount, they will spend not less than 30 to 40 million (old Leones) a month. But look at their receipts, Nle 1,000, 2,000 for a place like this and Kono has 24-hour electricity,” he said. The hotel was fully booked at the time of the raid.
The Director -General therefore ordered the removal of the meter that was alleged to have been tampered with, and to completely disconnect electricity while inviting them to their Kono office for further investigations. The Manager of the hotel could not be reached at the time of the raid for reactions and the front desk attendant could only say that they do buy EDSA credit to recharge the meter.
A similar incident was also recorded at two branches of the Sierra Fisheries Company where both were alleged to have interfered with their meters and to have illegal abstracted electricity. At the Kainkordu Road branch, the Manager of the cold room Kalesu Kallon denied any wrongdoing, saying that one of the meters was faculty and that he had reported the issue while he continued to use it. The two branches were disconnected and the meters taken away. Other restaurants and guest houses were also disconnected and invited over illegal connections some done directly from the electric pole which according to the Technicians is the cause of most of the house fire incidents recorded.
Some of the issues observed in Kono according to the Authority’s Communication Manager Sahr Nepor had to do with Blind meters, direct connections, and wrong tariffs among others. The situation he said is similar to the other regional headquarters towns such as Bo, Kenema, and Makeni where raids have been carried out.
“Kono and Makeni are the places that get 24-hour electricity and you can imagine the kind of losses that we incur every month. We have invited most of them and have also disconnected them. We will investigate them and if they are culpable, we will do energy recovery, and where necessary criminal measures will be instituted,” he said. The on-the-checks according to the officials continue in other parts of the country.
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