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News from the Caribbean as of
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DOMLEC losing millions in electricity theft
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
by Malaika Laurent
Caribbean Net News Dominica Correspondent
Email: malaika@caribbeannetnews.com
ROSEAU , Dominica: Dominica’s lone electricity company DOMLEC is moving to curb electricity theft which company officials say cost it about $14 million in losses during the last financial year.
It is against this that the company held a one-day workshop with police officers Monday, to discuss ways to observe and handle electricity theft and meter tampering.
Nathaniel George, the company’s Commercial Manager said that the company lost 17.3 percent through theft alone, just last year.
He said the company will be looking closely at the Electricity Supply Act, which includes a component dealing with electricity theft.
“The Electricity Supply Act makes clear guidelines and clear penalties for that sort of activity.
“In fact it makes reference to two different sets of offences. The first offence is the person who actually does the tampering.
"The second offence talks about the person who knowingly knows about that activity and benefits from it.
“The offence involves a fine of $1,500 and imprisonment to the extent of twelve months and also compensation to DOMLEC for the lost revenue,” Mr George said.
DOMLEC’s Managing Director Joel Huggins said that people who steal electricity are robbing the entire country, adding that meter tampering is an extremely dangerous practice.
“When people steal electricity, they are not just stealing from DOMLEC. They are stealing part of the wealth of the country.
“The process of stealing electricity, people put themselves and their neighbours at risk. Electricity is like fire, it’s a very good servant but a very good master.
“You’ll find that the consequence, when you fool around with electrical installations, especially if you don’t do it properly, what you will get is fire,” Mr Huggins said.
At the end of the workshop it was hoped that a task force would be put in place to deal with the problem promptly.
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