By: Lolly Sowe
Team ‘Gom Sa Bopa’ (believed in yourself), a youth-led group, has branded Gambia as the fifth country in West Africa with the most expensive tariffs on electricity and water.
They are demanding the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) to return what they called “cheaper tariffs” following a massive increment of electricity and water supplies charges last month.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, 5th May 2023, Yusuf Taylor, the spokesperson of ‘Team Gom Sa Bopa”, told journalists that access to clean drinking water and stable electricity has been a major challenge in the country since independence.
He accused the Public Utilities and Regulatory Authority (PURA) of not showing interest in addressing NAWEC’s poor standard services which, according to him, is resulting in billions of loans.
“The Gambia is the fifth country in West Africa with the most expensive tariffs on electricity and water,” Yusuf Taylor told journalists yesterday.
He quoted The Point Newspaper’s story in which NAWEC is said to have arrears of almost D1 billion dalasis owed to SENELEC back in April 2023.
“Even if a new tariff was to be introduced, an increase of 37% for electricity and 20% for water is unaffordable, leaving us no option but to demand that NAWEC returns to its previous tariff,” he added.
Alpha Ousman Jallow, the president of the Consumer Protection Consortium, highlighted that affordability, access, and quality are all under fundamental human rights. He noted that the increment is affecting every aspect of people’s social economic development but it’s also not all about demonstrating because it’s negotiable.
He mentioned that the necessary consultation from the key stakeholders wasn’t done properly because real grassroots associations like the consortium should have been consulted on the dialogue of NAWEC and PURA with the Gambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission GCCPC.
For his part, Lamin Manneh, a concerned Gambian and a volunteer highlighted that NAWEC’s issue is now getting worse because it’s creating tension in households.
He stressed that NAWEC has failed under 2 democratic governments for the past 27 years, so they are willing to stand to the core on making sure the rate decreased.
