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EDM dismantles over 600 clandestine connections
10:36 CAT | 04 Jan 2022
Photo: in file CoM
During 2021, Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company, EDM, dismantled over 600 clandestine connections to several properties in the Port City of Beira, in the central province of Sofala, according to a report on Tuesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.
The head of EDM’s Statistics and Operational Planning Department, Gabriel Titosse, said that the connections were discovered after inspections which targeted commercial establishments, offices and residences. The theft of power through clandestine connections, he said, caused huge financial losses to EDM.
Every year, Titosse added, the company records financial losses of more than six million meticais (more than 93,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate), caused mostly by people who are fully aware of the damage they are causing to the company.
“Through the inspections, we have found out that most of the targeted properties had been operating with clandestine connections,” Titosse said, pointing out that some of the connections are carried out with the assistance of some EDM technical staff. Between January and October 2015, at least 15 people were expelled from the company for their involvement in this criminal activity.
In a bid to recover the losses, EDM has sent more than 200 complaints to court and expects the legal authorities to hold those involved criminally accountable.
He deplored the fact that many people resort to clandestine connections at a time when EDM has simplified the procedure for applying for domestic connection, which are now totally free of charge, as part of efforts to ensure universal access to electricity by 2030.
Source: AIM
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