A day-long national sensitisation campaign on energy efficiency and conservation was recently held at the Kanifing Municipal Council.
Speaking at the launch, Yankuba Colley, the Mayor of the KMC said that NAWEC has realised a lot of energy generation without any disturbance under the current government.
According to him, NAWEC has maintained a steady increase of its energy generation capacity over the years, with commendable improvement on the existing service and connection lines. He stated that electricity is no longer a luxury in the country but a necessity.
On behalf of NAWEC's Managing Director, Mrs. Sira Wally Njai, said that electricity supply is a vital economic development, and thus important to adopt adquate electric usage.
She underscored the benefits of electricity conservation, which she stated, would lead to saving money, reduce customers’ bills, and increase connections to houses as well as customer satisfaction.
Also addressing the gathering, Dr. Almami Camara, a representative from the UNDP stated that efficient usage of electricity energy conservation would lead to less green house effects on the environment. He said that it is commonly acknowledged that electricity supply is a key development of every nation.
According to him, availability of a reliable system of energy supply that is efficient, affordable and environmentally sustainable is a major preoccupation of the government of The Gambia and her development partners, such as the UNDP.
He added that to overcome some of these challenges, the government of The Gambia, in collaboration with the UNDP is about to launch a project inorder to support the environment and energy sectors to attain the MDGs and PRSP for the period 2009-20 11.
He noted that their sole objective is to ensure energy efficiency and environmental sustainability into the national socio-economic development agenda.
For his part, Bakary Jallow, on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, also underscored the importance of electricity conservation. He called for the collaboration of everybody to ensure the efficient usage of electricity for the government to obtain its goals.
