By: Kemo Kanyi
President Adama Barrow on Saturday launched in Sifoe, West Coast Region, a new project that aimed at providing clean and safe drinking water for communities within the Greater Banjul Area.
The project known as Water Supply Project in the Greater Banjul Area, (WASIB) is part of government’s drive towards achieving the universal access to clean and safe drinking water.
In his launching statement, President Barrow says the “transformative initiative” marks another giant leap in the national journey towards universal access to clean and safe drinking water, stating that his government accords access to safe and clean drinking water special priority following the United Nations General Assembly declaration as a human right.
According to him, to reinforce that right, his government decided lately to separate NAWEC into two entities for water and electricity, respectively, with an objective to devote closer attention to developing and implementing appropriate water projects nationwide.
“This strategy is expected to help achieve universal access to clean and safe drinking water, hence the launch of the WASIB project. Supported by AFD, it marks a pivotal step towards realising our national goals and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals related to clean drinking water,” he noted.
He said the new project would provide safe and clean drinking water to more than one million people in the West Coast Region and beyond. This, he continues, demonstrates, yet again, his government’s unwavering commitment to improving the lives of Gambians.
The president also announced that a total investment of fifty-nine million, one hundred thousand Euros (€59.1 million), adding that the WASIB project is partly made possible by the generous twenty-nine-million-Euro (€29 million) grant from the Government of France through the French Development Agency. In addition to this, it is an expected concessional facility of thirty million, one hundred thousand Euros (€30.1 million) from the European Investment Bank.
“The project is initiated to have a wider coverage and to significantly and positively impact as many lives as feasible,” Barrow reiterated.