THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) will soon take over the operations of debt-ridden Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) to ensure that services would not be disrupted.
“Definitely, we will take over — partial temporary operation and management takeover,” NEA administrator Edgardo Masongsong said.
He said they will look into the cooperative’s systems loss and collection efficiency as well as allegations of corruption against its officials.
Zamcelco has 23 percent systems loss, which is way above the allowable 13 percent set by NEA. For every percentage point, the cooperative loses P3 million.
Zamcelco general manager Edgardo Ancheta disclosed that the cooperative has a total standing debt of P2.1 billion, including a loan secured from the NEA.
Masongsong said a memorandum on NEA’s takeover is being finalized.
He said they will ask the organization of electric cooperatives for assistance in managing the affairs of Zamcelco.
An Energy Summit on August 10 to discuss the problems besetting Zamcelco was initiated by First District Representative Celso Lobregat.
During the summit, Masongsong was asked to provide technical and administrative assistance to the cooperative.
The cooperative has 128,299 member-consumers as of July 2018. (SunStar Philippines)