The managing director of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) has promised to backlash defaulters who owe the company millions of dalasi.
Baba Fatajo made this statement at a presser on Monday 26th November, 2018, where he also threatens to shutdown both water and electricity supply to state own enterprises, institutions and parastatals. The company says that last year state own enterprises allowed to owe Nawec over four hundred million dalasi.
“We are neither a philanthropic organization nor a charity and for that matter, we cannot afford to supply power without payments,” Nawec superman unequivocally stated. According to him, Nawec has millions of dalasi of outstanding arrears that the company badly needed to implement other projects, adding that in order to move on Nawec has no choice than to shutdown the water and electricity supply of the defaulters.
Mr. Fatajo said this new measures will not spare public enterprises, institutions and organisations in Nawec’s drive to recover its debts from defaulters. “Public institutions must understand that we have come to the limit and now the best option is to shutdown water and electricity supply to institutions that are at default,” MD Fatajo stressed.
He said Nawec’s patience have been hanging on the interest of The Gambian people who will be the main victims if drastic measures are not taken against public institutions, adding that it is also in the interest of the nation for these arrears to be paid so that the company can also continue to serve its mandate.
He said that his company will as for now not going to engage itself in naming and put shame on defaulters but will soon resort to such, arguing that his company have given enough time to defaulters to clear their bills.
“I will beg not to name the state institutes that are owing us but I can tell that one of these institutions owes us D70m and another one close to D50m. These are public institutions that know well that services are bound to be paid,” Fatajo noted.
On the state of the water supply situation in the country, The Managing Director Fatajo said that Nawec has already embarked on drilling of more boreholes in the Greater Banjul area to improve the supply of water to residents of these communities.
He revealed that some of Nawec’s boreholes were vandalized by certain unscrupulous individuals who have caused losses of about four million liters of water daily.
Author: Kebba Ansu Manneh