Ayetar EPC Staff Absconds with Ward Meter Fees, Department Denies Responsibility, Public Suffers

Mekong, June 23 In Ayetar Township, Shan State, a situation has arisen where an EPC staff member collected meter fees from various wards but failed to submit them to the department. When the public reported this to the department, Ayetar EPC denied responsibility and is demanding that residents pay the meter fees again. It is understood that in most wards, some residents had paid approximately 30,000 kyats per month, or around 100,000 kyats for at least three months, but these funds were not submitted to the department. "We have been paying the meter fees every month as soon as the bill arrives. And paying the service fee. We have been doing this for a long time. Then, in May, the meter fee exceeded 30,000 kyats. Since he said it was okay to transfer via Kpay because he was busy collecting, I transferred it. The next month, the meter bill included outstanding meter charges. When I asked, he said he would say it was paid, and so on. This month, the outstanding charges exceeded 40,000 kyats. When I mentioned it, he said he would say it, and so on. Later, I realized that it wasn't just my household that was affected; many others were too. The money that should have been paid for the meter was taken without being paid. When I went to the EPC office the other day and spoke to them, they said it had nothing to do with them and that the person had been fired. So, the outstanding debts accumulated over months," said a resident of Ward 11, Ayetar. The Ayetar EPC employee who collected meter fees from the public and did not pay the money to the government is named Lin Pyay Soe Oo. Ayetar EPC, which claims he was officially appointed but denies responsibility, is demanding that the public pay the meter fees again and is threatening to cut off electricity if they do not pay, according to the public. Although it is said that he was fired, some residents claim that he was actually transferred to Hopone Township. "In the ward, almost every household was deceived like this for two months. My house lost nearly a year's worth. I heard that some houses lost up to 500,000 or 600,000 kyats. The remaining balance was covered in black ink. They gave us papers after looking at the household's situation. Even though I looked at the papers carefully, I didn't notice because I was distracted, and I only realized it when I saw the annual summary. When I explained the situation to the office, they just said he was fired. Their husband (referring to the employee) was still distributing papers in uniform to some wealthy households, and there was even an employee who mockingly said, 'You suffer because of your own actions.' It seems like they are colluding and working together to cheat. If you don't pay the meter fees for up to three months, you will have your electricity cut off. If you come to cut off the electricity, we would have known we were deceived earlier and it would have been a little easier. Are you intentionally creating a loophole for corruption? " said a local resident. As a responsible government department, it is a disgraceful act for a government department to easily dismiss the issue by saying "he was fired," to avoid responsibility, to not investigate the ongoing problem, to shift the blame onto the public, to deceive the public by abusing authority, and to fail to take effective legal action against the loss of state funds. Therefore, it is desired that the Shan State government take necessary actions for the suffering public. #MekongNews #WardMeterFees #Ayetar #EPC #Fraud