By Mustapha Jallow
Reports and complaints of the water crisis have become alarming to the members of the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC) for the National Assembly, on Tuesday, commenced a social audit exercise over how effectively NAWEC water supply across the country.
The inquiry is supported by the International Republican Institute (IRI)
The mission was to get first-hand information on NAWEC’s activities before the Committee’s Public Hearing on NAWEC, which will soon be held. The committee would investigate the Company’s reliability, cost-effectiveness, affordability, quality, and accessibility of water supply in the country.
This aligns with their mandate, as enshrined in the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, to oversee public enterprises, including NAWEC. Speaking during a committee visit to media houses, Lamin J Sanneh, the Chairperson of the PEC Committee, visited the media to inquire whether papers are still receiving complaints from customers over lack of water.
According to him, the essence of the fact-finding was necessitated by an engagement they had with IRI on the quality of water supply and the availability of water, as well as the consistency in terms of water production within the Greater Banjul Area.
Hon. Sanneh explained how they were privileged to receive specific information about the production of the country’s urban, peri-urban, and industrial growth areas when a performance audit was conducted on NAWCE.
“After our inquiries, we will map out recommendations to all stakeholders. We also generate a report that will entail our recommendation to the government and NAWEC as a Public Enterprise Institution to look on them,” he says.
However, with the ongoing water crisis gripping the nation, NAWEC recently benefited from a World Bank project worth $40 000, 000 and many million projects were signed, but still, the country faces the nightmare of water.
In September 2023, a group of desperate women and young men stomped the highway of Bundung with their empty buckets, pans, and gallons to draw President Barrow’s attention to their nightmares regarding the water shortage that gripped their community.
This event happened when President Barrow visited Bundung to inaugurate a newly built Police Station. Residents thought the passing of the presidential motorcade was an opportunity they had been waiting for so long – to express their pain and frustration.
A moment when Mr Pierre Sylva, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the National Water and Electricity Company Limited (NAWEC), was confronted with claims and demands of residents, he said: “NAWEC does not have enough water to supply to everyone. But we are developing measures to address the issue with the help of water projects.”
