The revelation by the Mayor of Banjul, Abdoulie Bah, that the Banjul City Council (BCC) is currently owing the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) a staggering sum of D31 million is really disturbing.
Considering the role and responsibility of NAWEC, it is our fervent belief that the company cannot perform its responsibilities with debt like this huge sum being owed to it by other institutions.
Yes, the electricity supply situation in the country sometimes deteriorates abysmally, and it was not known for a very long time what was actually the problem confronting NAWEC.
Many people blame the company without knowing the actual reasons for its staggering performance with respect to meeting the nation’s need of electricity and water supply.
While we do not want to be seen as taking sides with NAWEC, we believe that NAWEC cannot perform its responsibilities with this huge amount of debt being owed to the national utility company by other institutions.
As we have always pointed out in these pages, service delivery at any level is a very demanding business. It requires enough resources, integrity and energy.
Anyone who wants quality service delivery, especially from NAWEC must be willing to pay for the service. To complain of poor quality service delivery, when one does not pay his or her bills on time is really unacceptable, and morally indefensible, especially when one owes huge arrears to NAWEC.
While we also appreciate the fact that the management of NAWEC is doing everything possible to address this problem, we hope that NAWEC will expedite its work to bring the current situation to normality, for the good of the nation and the national economy.
The benefits of having uninterrupted power supply day in day out are too numerous, and a constant energy supply is the pivot of any modern economy.
“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.”
Ogden Nash
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