The Vice President and Minister of Women's Affairs, Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, on Thursday officially opened the newly built waste water treatment plant of Gambega.
The official opening, held at Gambega headquarters in Kanifing, was attended by senior government officials, as well as members of the diplomatic and consular corps.
Vice president Njie-Saidy, who presided over the event on behalf of President Yahya Jammeh, said Gambega, a subsidiary of the Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company, has again demonstrated its interest in the development of the country, by pioneering "a milestone breakthrough in the way we can further enhance waste management and an effective water use management".
The Vice-president says The
"In short, since its inception in 1995, Gambega has never taken a back seat in complementing government's national development aspirations, especially in the critical sectors of Education, Youth and Sports, Art and Music, and Health, where millions of dalasis have been spent," she noted
According to Vice President Njie-Saidy, the refurbishment of the accident and emergency ward of the RVTH as well as the donation of a two forty-foot containers of medical items worth over millions of dalasis are but an example of Gambega's support towards the country's health sector.
"Today's launch of this multi-million dalasi WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT is the latest demonstration of Gambega as a true and credible partner in The Gambia's socio-economic development process," she said.
Mr Philippe Ayivor, PAC director of Coca-Cola Equatorial Africa, said: "On behalf of the Coca-Cola Company, it is indeed an honour to be here to witness the Commissioning of the first-ever waste water treatment facility in The Gambia to be commissioned by the Gambian leader.
"As a global business that operates locally, the Coca-Cola system understands and recognises that we can only be as healthy as the communities in which we operate.
"Our success is tied to the health and sustainability of our local communities. As a result, we build sustainability of the communities in which we operate into all programmes and activities that we run."
He explained that a key pillar of their company's sustainability programme "is to ensure" they protect the environment they operate "not just for today but for future generations".
The Coca- Cola system has chosen the protection of water resources as the focus for its environmental sustainability programmes, he says.
Also speaking at the official inauguration, Hon. Jatto Sillah, Minister of Forestry and Environment, said the inauguration of the waste water plant was "a very special day" in The Gambia's development history that "for the first time witnessing something of this nature".
According to him, the state-of-the-art facility has enormous benefits for the country's Water Resource Conservation.
"The facility will give lots of benefits to the Kanifing Industrial Estate and its environs and could serve residential and commercial needs of a wide catchment area, including Greater Banjul Area," he added.
