$53 million in fixed deposits for E.P.C.

By Talaia Mika 18 October 2020, 5:00PM

The Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.) has $53 million tala in fixed deposits with a financial institution which will assist the State-owned utility run its operations.

Departing E.P.C. General Manager, Tologata Tile Tuimaleali’ifano, has described the fixed deposit as one of his management’s major achievements during his 10-years with the corporation.

“About $53 million tala is in the E.P.C. fixed deposits at the moment,” he said in an interview with the Samoa Observer.

“When I first became the General Manager, I remember when we had an overdraft at the bank in trying to provide salaries for the employees and to pay for the operations and things like that.”

Tologata will formally step down from his job as the C.E.O. of the organisation next Friday, 23 October to prepare for the 2021 General Election next April, when he will run for public office. 

The E.P.C. currently has about 600 permanent employees with the departing C.E.O. also indicating that the surplus cash has also paid for corporation’s operations to ensure they continue to provide the service. 

Besides the fixed deposit, getting the power stations to run remotely was another milestone that was achieved under Tologata’s tenure. 

Currently, all E.P.C power stations are monitored remotely from their operations headquarters, which was technology that was not available a decade ago, he added. 

Villages like Afulilo, Lalolauga, Tafitoala, Vailoa in Palauli and others are supplied electricity from power stations that are unmanned.

“At the moment, we’re waiting for the contract employees who work there at the power stations to complete their contracts before completely locking the power houses and operating them by remote,” Tologata added.

Additionally, about 20-24 per cent of system loss in the E.P.C. power grid has been reduced to 8 per cent which he said is great, but there is still room for improvement.

By Talaia Mika 18 October 2020, 5:00PM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>