By:Fatou Krubally
The Gambia Electricity Access Project (GEAP) has been completed and commissioned, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Nani Juwara told the National Assembly on Monday, as the country continues to face challenges with electricity supply.
Juwara made the disclosure while responding to the Public Enterprises Committee’s consolidated report on the implementation of major electricity projects, including the Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernisation Project (GERMP), GEAP and the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOREAP).
The committee had raised concerns over delays in the implementation of GEAP, which had recorded 91.87 percent fiscal progress as of 15 June 2024.
Responding to lawmakers’ questions on the current status of the project, Juwara confirmed that it had been completed and commissioned.
He attributed the earlier delays partly to inadequate contractor resources, saying the contractor was instructed to increase the number of teams working on the project to accelerate implementation.
The measure helped address the capacity constraints and enabled the project to be completed, he said.
Juwara, however, acknowledged outstanding challenges in the management and implementation of some electricity projects, including issues relating to withholding tax.
He said contractors had not complied with withholding tax requirements during the period under review because project management had initially understood that project funds were tax-exempt.
Following a 2024 directive from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs enforcing withholding tax, the requirement was communicated to contractors, consultants and suppliers, he said.
Juwara maintained that the directive was intended to apply to new contracts, arguing that existing agreements had been negotiated under different tax arrangements.
Lawmakers also asked whether the affected contractors had settled their tax obligations with the government.
The minister confirmed that the contractors had not done so during the period under review.
On ECOREAP, Juwara said implementation delays were partly caused by inadequate manpower from the contractor.
Although the contractor had the necessary technical and financial resources, he said, it did not have sufficient teams to handle the scale of the work within the projected timeframe.
Juwara assured lawmakers that monitoring mechanisms had been strengthened to address implementation delays and improve contractor performance.
The completion of GEAP marks progress in the government’s efforts to expand electricity access, although concerns over the reliability and availability of power remain a major public issue.
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