Consumer Parliament to be Launched Saturday

The national launch of the Consumer Parliament initiated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) will be held on Saturday, 6thDecember 2008 at the Paradise Suites Hotel.

The new forum, which is an extension of PURA's Complaint Resolution Mechanism, is designed to put into place an impartial and effective consumer complaints resolution mechanism related to communications, electricity, water and sewerage and ISP services, as mandated by the PURA Act 2001.

According to a news release from PURA, for the first time in the history of The Gambia, and in line with PURA's guiding principles of transparency, the general public will be able to come face to face with service providers.

To be conducted in an atmosphere of dialogue and understanding, the forum will also enable providers and consumers to collectively address their concerns and problems affecting the regulated sector.

Through this process, the release added, it is envisaged that consumers will walk in from the streets and automatically become "Parliamentarians".

"They can lodge complaints that will be handled and resolved either in the forum of the parliament or within a clear timeline", the release added.