By Mustapha Jarju
President of the Consumer Protection Consortium (CPC), Alpha Ousman Jallow, said the Public Utility and Regulatory Authority (PURA) accepted the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) tariff increment of both water and electricity without consultation of any relevant key stakeholders.
Jallow in his recent interface with the media said “Consultation of relevant key stakeholders was not done” though he would agree with PURA of inviting stakeholders like the Gambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (GCCPC) and other consumer associations to the PURA office “but not the Consortium.”
He continued: “We will be engaging or re-engaging the PURA, we will be engaging the GCCPC because that is our legal avenue, and if we want the issue to redress that is where we will go. It is not all about the demonstration and for us we will say that will be a last resort but while there is sensitization in both urban and rural Gambia we will be working with team ‘GomsaBopa’ to come up with a formal complaint.”
Mr. Jallow stressed that, if the water and electricity tariff increase everything consumable will increase saying including ice, storage of meat, cost of transport, and every other basic commodity, and it will not make economic sense.
He explained further that electricity and water are fundamental human basic rights that should be provided by every government of the people.
“Either you are a Minister, Permanent Secretary or a member of the civil service or even in the informal sector the NAWEC tariff increment on water and electricity is affecting every aspect of our socio-economic development. So this should be a general concern for all Gambians,” he highlighted.
