By Mama A. Touray & Sainabou Gassama
The Comium, one of the household GSM companies in The Gambia has expressed its dismayed over the suspension of operation handed on the company by the country’s regulatory body – Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) despite payment negotiation plans.
Comium who recently acquired new international investors said its partner is ready to settle the debt with immediate effect if the PURA lift the suspension placed on the Comium GSM Company.
Comium agreement with the investor among other objectives includes resolving all the current financial and network issues and bringing 4G and 5G to The Gambia in a shortest time.
However, the suspension has expressed by Comium management, during a press briefing held at the Comium house comes as a shock after having some positive meetings held between the regulatory body and the Comium Company new management.
The Management emphasized that Comium and its new international investor showed a signed of goodwill by paying the amount of D14, 000,000 of its gross dues, and also expressed its determination to pay out the remaining amount, without even relating this payment to its due receivable of D21, 000,000 from Gamtel.
Despite the dues from Gamtel, Comium new management and its international investors are still committing to proceed immediately in setting the remaining, and provide within one month period, a full year of network upgrade plan; provided that PURA stops immediately the network suspension and will not tie them to any conditions that would jeopardize the kickoff of the new era of telecommunication in the company and the country.
Comium further added that the new move of its company will not only implore the economic situation in The Gambia with the new investor but instead will also create additional job opportunities increasing the existing comium workforce by at least 30 percent, While safe guarding the main source of living of the current 125 employed families in the company.