By: Anthony Q. Jiffan, Jr.
MONROVIA: The Director General designate of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, Mohammed Ali has raised an alarm over the huge work force at his new area of assignment which according to him grew from 189 employees in 2017 to 669 in late 2023 without a proper vetting process and vowed to undertake a holistic employment audit to ascertain how the employment was carried out and how he will begin his stewardship.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Corporations chaired by Margibi County Senator James Emmanuel Nuquay Monday, February 19, 2024 on Capitol Hill, Mr. Ali recounted that the general staff of the entity was at 189 with a payroll of US$155.521.66 in 2017.
According to him, in December of 2023, the employees were raised to 669 thus increasing the payroll to US$384,160.18, which currently makes the entity dependent on the Ministry of Finance and Development-Planning.
The LWSC Boss designate noted that the institution is supposed to be contributing to the national budget but unfortunately, it rests squarely on the Ministry of Finance to service its payroll; something he promised to change with the support of the Senate if confirmed.
He also indicated that on April 1, 2023, 154 persons were employed while between July
and November 2023, 20 janitors and 85 security officers gained employment at the public institution, stressing that such employment was done in the absence of vetting to establish whether they met the requisite criteria continues to create a burden on the entity.
To properly ascertain how those citizens were recruited into the entity, Mr. Mo Ali stressed that he does not intend to dismiss any Liberian but he wants the two different audits of the system for the effective running of the institution.
At the same time, Ali said his administration will regularize water supply across the country but there is a major problem with accessibility with water in Central Monrovia, adding that most of the pipes are built on by residents thus making the task difficult.
The LWSC Boss designate further planned to outsource the metering on a prepaid basis as being done by the Liberia Electricity Corporation and ensure citizens pay for the water, indicating that if private entities handle the metering, they will collect the money and increase efficiency of the supply.
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