By Kemo Kanyi
The National Water and Electricity Company(NAWEC) laid a foundation stone at Jarra Soma of OMVG substation. The project is aimed at supplying electricity to 298 communities in rural areas that are situated 100 km radius from the station.
Mr. Gallo Saidy, the managing director of NAWEC, speaking at the gathering expressed gratitude to the partners and urged all his staff and the local communities to embrace the project.
“Today is a historic event for the Gambia as a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. So this is one of those steps I’ve been looking forward to for many, many years. Now that we have a milestone project here that is supposed to extend and make electricity accessible to 298 communities,” he said.
“This is historic, and we should not forget that we have an enabling environment to do that. The government has provided that foundation of the enabling environment for this project to take off. It is for the country, it is for the region in this step.”
Mr. Saidy went on to add that they were very privy to be at the forefront of the project; saying electricity was the backbone of development in the country. Without power supply, he says, itwill be difficult to attain the sustainable development goals.
“So a project like this, which is going to bring development to our people in the remote areas, I think, is a laudable one. It is a project that we will all look forward to in the generations to come,” he stressed.
He assured his institution’s support for the successful implementation of the project.
“We, as implementing agents, gave full support behind the project, and we want to thank the World Bank and all our partners that are here from the ECOWAS States for the support they have given to this country.”
“We will do our utmost to make sure that this project is successful. The success of this project is the success of ECOWAS because the regional partnership is for the development of West Africa, and this is one part of that,” he maintained.
Hon. Rohey John Manjang, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, for her part, called on the contractors to work hard with respect of the new deadline for the completion of the project on the 31st October, 2025.
“Make sure that on the 31st of October, the D-Day to measure this project is completed, I called on the NAWEC team. I call on the technicians. I called on all the partners, including our experts, to give it all. We want this project to finish by that time.”
She disclosed that President Adama Barrow was becoming impatient about the implementation process of the project which was supposed to be completed in 2023. But, she said, due to some reasons the deadline had to be extended to October 31st.
Ms. Elise Massan Akitani, World Bank team leader, and Mr. Bayaornile Dabire, ECOWAS Director of Energy and Mines, both committed their institutions’ continued support to the project.
