Staff Reporter
MAPUTSOE – ECONET Telecom Lesotho (ETL) has lost two power generators to thieves in a space of a week. The generators stolen at separate base stations are worth a total M500 000, according to company officials.
Kanono Ramashamole, ETL’s Country Head ;Tower Divison, said the first generator was at the Ha Nyenye factory site in Maputsoe.
ETL technicians discovered that the generator was missing last Wednesday. That affected service in some areas around Maputsoe for a few hours.
“Because our generator has been built in a way that the LEC electricity lines go through it, when the generator was stolen it resulted in both service and electricity unavailability,” Ramashamole said.
Ramashamole said the technician found that the parameter fence had been cut.
He said yesterday they discovered that another generator at a base station in the Corn Exchange in Maputsoe was missing.
“We sent our technician to inspect the Corn Exchange site after the previous vandalism and he discovered that the generator had been stolen,” Ramashamole said.
Like the one in Ha Nyenye the site in Corn Exchange did not have a security guard.
ETL is working with the police to recover the generators.
“Vandalism puts a lot of lives at danger, and most people have not realised that,” Ramashamole said.
“What happens when one is sick and has to call a car to get to the hospital, or there is a crime taking place and police need to be notified. It (vandalism) affects businesses”.
He said “Basotho should always remember that while the equipment belongs to ETL its sole purpose is to help them communicate”.
He added that vandalism takes ETL a step back in its effort to connect more areas.