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[quote][i]Originally posted by Momodou[/i]
[br][b][size=4][url="http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/nawecs-financial-woes-increasing"]NAWEC�s Financial Woes Increasing[/url][/size=4]
By Modou S Joof

Wednesday, March 21, 2012[/b]
The Gambia�s sole producer, transmitter and distributor of electricity, water and sewerage, NAWEC, is feared to �go under� amidst growing financial problems.
The state-owed company, which continues to operate on obsolete machines, is financially in jeopardy as the government continues to take loans and accumulating debts. NAWEC owes more than three billion Dalasi to lenders, financial institutions within and outside the country.   
Huge loans have been accumulated in the wake of new projects like water and electricity expansion; generators and rural electrification; network upgrading; maintenance; establishing stand alone power stations in major provincial towns, including the independent power producer (IPP) at Brikama, the administrative capital of the West Coast Region, among others. 
Against this backdrop, NAWEC�s think tank who �seems to be running out of ideas� believe a 33 per cent increase on electricity, water and sewerage tariffs is the main solution to the company�s financial problems and keeps it out of the woods. 
Currently, NAWEC charges from D7.20-D8.70 per unit for domestic, commercial, industries, agriculture, local and central government consumption of electricity; it also charges between D8-D10.62 per unit for water consumption; while prices per unit for sewerage are pegged at D2.2-D6.6. 
A 33 per cent tariff increase on these essential social services will require at least an addition of D2.38. �If you look our debt, there is no way we can sustain the company if there is no increment on our tariff,� Mr. Nani Juwara, NAWEC�s commercial director said at a public hearing on March 17, 2012.  
The hearing organised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) is the second in the space of one year. It gives NAWEC�s clients the opportunity to partake in the tariff review process by approving or disapproving any proposed increase on the company�s charges. 
This year, the public again massively voted against the proposal. One consumer vehemently argued that NAWEC can never repay the D3 billion loans it had on its head. He suggested a swift government bailout hence a tariff increase is not the solution.
However, the irony is that the same government which owns NAWEC had accumulated huge debts and owed up to billions to the company as of June 2011. The company in a desperate move publishes in a media dispatch names of government institutions owing it voluminous sums of money. 
From the office of the President, the ministries, area councils, public institutions to the president�s private businesses and a few private companies and individuals, NAWEC is jointly-owed over D2 billion all together. 
During the hearing over the weekend suggestions were made to NAWEC, which enjoys domination in the production, transmission and distribution of water, electricity and sewerage services to go after all its debts, and set aside its proposal for tariff increase.
However, the commercial director, Mr. Nani Juwara revealed the company successfully collect 80 percent of monies owed to it monthly. But he fell short of admitting that the remaining 20 per cent has been proving difficult to collect from the government.
�It is only the government that we sometimes have to �maslaahaa� (compromise),� he said. �NAWEC is own by the government.�
The list of debtors �named and shamed� last year by NAWEC was submitted to the National Assembly in Banjul, but following an announcement by the Legislature that an extraordinary session has been postponed until �further notice�, nothing has been heard of it since.
�We are facing some financial problems and if we do not solve it, it will affect us a lot in our operations,� NAWEC�s finance director Mr. Alhagie Jallow said during the first public hearing on February 12, 2011. For the monies owed to it, he said �We do not see a way out if the necessary steps are not taken.�
Between 2008 and 2010, the utility company recorded an operational loss of more than D761 million, undoubtedly harming the revenue base of the company and its operational cost.
At the time, the company finds itself in a situation which could be described as being �between the devil and the deep blue sea� NAWEC owed its major suppliers D830 million in 2010 compared to D378 million in 2008.

[b]Source:[/b] [url="http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/nawecs-financial-woes-increasing"]Dailynews[/url]
[/quote]

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T O P I C R E V I E W
toubab1020	Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 00:22:43 "Hon. Bah said the generators purchased under the REP were made with high technology and they (NAWEC) �know when you have such type of equipment you should endeavour to have qualified people who can maintenance them. �If you give these high technology machines to somebody who doesn�t even know how to operate a computer and you want him to operate those generators very well, it will not work.� The outspoken APRC candidate said his findings on NAWEC have revealed that the sole and only electricity supplier in the country �doesn�t even have� generator maintenance expert." Very clear,management problem,fiddling by unqualified staff,all an engine wants (just like a human ) is clean and fresh things,clean fuel, clean air to breath and to make decisions on (it's ) his own in the generators case everything is done automatically and it will run for years,especially without Gambian "maintenance ". http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/nawec-spends-millions-of-gambian-taxpayers-money-in-vain NAWEC Spends Millions of Gambian Taxpayers� Money In Vain� Monday, September 12, 2011 A huge amount of Gambian taxpayers� money spent by the National Water and Electricity Company on the Rural Electrification Project (REP) seems to have gone down the drain as most of the generators are damaged due to poor maintenance, says Basse National Assembly Member. �Millions of dalasi or dollars [spent on the REP] have gone in vain,� Hon. Bah said while seconding three motions tabled before parliament by the Minister of Finance on Tuesday during a half-day long extra-ordinary meeting of the National Assembly in the 2011 legislative session. The total cost of the REP was estimated at US$22.3 million of which $19 million (GMD 190 million) is to be externally funded by the African Development Bank, BADEA and the Islamic Development Bank. The remaining amount is to be funded locally by NAWEC in local currency - the Dalasi. The project �has started to suffer� because most of the generators that were bought during the inauguration of the project have all been damaged, Hon. Bah said while citing his constituency, Basse, as one of the areas where the project has failed. �Honestly, Basse is facing real electricity shortage and all of this is because of poor maintenance [of the generators by NAWEC],� he intimated, saying: �It was not even long we borrowed a generator that is now keeping Basse on light.� Hon. Bah said the generators purchased under the REP were made with high technology and they (NAWEC) �know when you have such type of equipment you should endeavour to have qualified people who can maintenance them. �If you give these high technology machines to somebody who doesn�t even know how to operate a computer and you want him to operate those generators very well, it will not work.� The outspoken APRC candidate said his findings on NAWEC have revealed that the sole and only electricity supplier in the country �doesn�t even have� generator maintenance expert. �I was making my serious finding and I found out that NAWEC doesn�t even have an expert who can even carry out maintenance work on these types of generators. That is why most of their generators would run for sometime and later collapse,� he observed. The Rural Electrification Project in The Gambia started in 1993, when Electricite de France (EDF) prepared an electrification master plan for the Greater Banjul Area and the rural provinces, which basically envisaged the electrification of towns within 80-km radius. The project consists of six power stations supported by 11kv transmission systems that it was hoped would form the basis for developing a national grid across The Gambia. The primary objective of the project, which was to encourage economic growth in The Gambia by providing continuous power supply to 46 towns and villages, is yet to be achieved. Author: Lamin Jahateh
15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
kobo	Posted - 27 Mar 2013 : 20:42:22 Toubab 1020 Refer when it was wonderfully launched; 1. QCELL LAUNCHES QPOWER (BUYING CASH POWER USING YOUR QCELL LINE) SOURCE:Foroyaa News:Published Saturday,March 09,2013 And latest developments that; 2 QPOWER SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE NAWEC PRO EXPLAINS SOURCE:Foroyaa News:Published Tuesday,March 26,2013
toubab1020	Posted - 26 Mar 2013 : 17:32:58 Another very sensible idea that involves traceability of payment by computer programme has bitten the dust in favour of CASH transactions,anoth sign of development paralysis maybe. quote: Originally posted by kobo QPOWER SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE NAWEC PRO EXPLAINS SOURCE:Foroyaa News:Published Tuesday,March 26,2013
kobo	Posted - 26 Mar 2013 : 14:55:05 QPOWER SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE NAWEC PRO EXPLAINS SOURCE:Foroyaa News:Published Tuesday,March 26,2013
kobo	Posted - 30 Nov 2012 : 23:23:05 FOROYAA BURNING ISSUES NEWS; BRIKAMA RESIDENTS COMPLAIN LACK OF ELECTRICITY IS NAWEC SUPPLYING ONE SECTION AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS? DEVELOPING STORY WHY THE POWER OUTAGES AT NAWEC?
kobo	Posted - 27 Oct 2012 : 04:52:45 FREEDOM NEWS; ''THE BANK ACCOUNTS OF NAWEC WERE OVERDRAWN BY D88 MILLION,� PKF AUDIT REPORT REVEALS
toubab1020	Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 16:20:11 So, getting away from ONLY Dalasi notes and into recordable financial cash payments into accounts,about time, you can't expect hundreds of people to Queue just to pay to buy their energy from a small number of NAWEC outlets.Should have been brought about ages ago. http://www.foroyaa.gm/index.php/burning-issues/11288-promise-of-scratch-cards-for-cash-power-by-end-2012-as-consumers-form-long-queues-for-cash-power
toubab1020	Posted - 10 Aug 2012 : 11:38:33 Thanks for that info Momodou,I wonder why it has been resurrected,where there is a chance of MONEY to be made and increased political power then this will be actively considered by all parties,think about it, MAYBE grants for ECOWAS members (or other grant sources ) in joint enterprises,building community inter-country power stations on a grand scale,(heavy industry, has to be bought from industrilised countries)grand transmission cabling projects to create jobs in both countries inter-country trade in wholesale electricity,and electrical consumer products someone has realised that Gambia cannot succeed in its Cashpower "taxation" programme without available electrical generation.Just a few of MY Thoughts
Momodou	Posted - 09 Aug 2012 : 15:58:43 OMVG has been on the way since the late 60s or early 1970s. I thought this organisation was dead, may be thats why a new name OMVS. Toubab, lack of electricity was worse in Senegal last year than Gambia. They too have their own problems.
toubab1020	Posted - 09 Aug 2012 : 15:33:08 Partnership maybe? http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/nawec-seeks-partnership-with-senelec-to-boost-power-supply OK,probably sensible,Senegal is a much bigger country than Gambia and has more resources,so if this proposal means that Gambia will BUY generated electricity wholesale from Senegal and then resell it to Nawec customers that could make sense for Gambia,after all Gambia and Senegalese people have cultural and genetic links together,the fact that Senegal was colonised by the french and Gambia by the British resulting in different official languages being spoken makes very little difference because both peoples speak the same African tribal languages.Generators and transmission equipment cost lots of money and fuel to keep generators working is expensive,a good thought but I can see political implications looming, and a feeling of a take over of Gambia by Senegal.
Momodou	Posted - 09 Aug 2012 : 14:21:37 A rare pat on the back Daily News Editorial: 'Jarama' NAWEC Wednesday, August 08, 2012 The understanding NAWEC gives to the public is that, in its supply of electricity, customers are connected through different generators. As a result, there can be power in one community when the neighbour is denied. Even more baffling for a layman, is that two households in one compound are at times not connected through the same line. How NAWEC is able to do that could worth a day�s seminar. Meanwhile, it is a situation that calls for caution against speaking in general terms when one rants about the inconveniences of NAWEC�s poor electricity supply services. Or when one praises the performances of this state-owned hegemonic producer, distributor and supplier of electricity. On this particular occasion, however, The Daily News wishes to dare the risks to speak in general terms, though there are exceptions that in recent times, there have been commendable improvements at NAWEC. For as far as our consultations are concerned, and if they are anything to go by, there has been steady supply of electricity at least within the Greater Banjul Area. Power outages which used to be our bedfellows are now rare. Even when it occurs, it no longer takes eternity before we start using our appliances again. This is a far cry from what used to exist � just a few months ago. Not only the Greater Banjul, but some parts of the Kombos are in a similar enjoyment. It is important, therefore, that all fingers are crossed in prayers for this pleasant, strange bedfellow to stay. In fact, prayers might not be enough. Also needed is not only the fulfillment of duty by all stakeholders, but a concerted effort in which all the players will kick the ball to the same direction. Reliable energy supply is crucial to the country�s economic development endeavours. NAWEC, as an incorporated body, owes a duty to the public and the nation. However, to fulfill its duty, NAWEC has to correct its wrong ways. Reliable reports, based on concrete findings, showed that the company is overstaffed, though NAWEC authorities insist that the company still needs more staff. These two views are contradictory and cannot be all absolutely correct. If NAWEC authorities are partly right, and the other views too are partly correct, there can be only one possibility. That is, there are too many square pegs in round holes. This is a problem for NAWEC to address to save money, hire the needed calibre of staff, reduce its debts and improve on its services. Moreover, as the saying goes: Innovation is the mother of inventions. NAWEC has to innovate to be able to substantially satisfy the demands that will undoubtedly remain high. At several PURA-convened public hearings, suggestions that NAWEC should explore other energy sources have become a music to the ear. The Gambia is dry almost throughout the year. Even during the wet season, the weather is almost always humid. What then is NAWEC waiting for to solarise energy services. Or even exploit the wind! These alternative energy sources are relevant, especially if NAWEC is to meet its rural electrification demands. While NAWEC is urged to make internal corrections and to innovate, the public is equally implored to fulfill its responsibilities to the company. Nowhere in the world are electricity services for free. Neither are they cheap, though the prices vary from one country to another. And NAWEC�s, unfortunately, is considered one of the highest in Africa. There are factors responsible for this - some may be justified, many may not be. In any case, anyone benefiting from electricity services should be ready to pay for them. In fact, with the introduction of the pre-paid billing system, the problem of people owing NAWEC should now have been history. The problem however persists because NAWEC is apparently cherry-picking on who to connect through the pre-paid and who to ask to pay the debt. In the recent past, a list of debtors was published. Surprisingly, names in it were of persons and institutions of prominence � public and private. There is a dilemma, as anytime the Office of the President, which was one of the defaulters, is denied electricity for defaulting in payment, at best, heads will roll like a dice. Matter-of-fact, the National Assembly had promised to do a follow up to the publication, but soon gave up. This was rather unfortunate and neither the public nor NAWEC should forgive the parliament for abdicating its responsibility. Apparently, here is where PURA, in pursuance of its slogan to ensure �equity in development�, should come in to ensure that there is no untouchable. Credit, it is often said, should be given where it is due. In that regard, NAWEC, on this not-so-frequent occasion, deserves a tab on the back for fulfilling its promise to its customers that after July 16, electricity supply would be improved. The Daily News, as a mass medium, hence the voice of the masses, wishes to say: jarama NAWEC. Source: Daily News
toubab1020	Posted - 02 Jul 2012 : 22:30:17 According to this paper no change then ! http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/nawec-at-it-again Snippet: "As if the poor services are not enough, NAWEC�s tarrifs are going up and up every other time. Now, a D100 cash power gets one only a few units, to be precise 11.5 units, reduced from the initial 20 units. In fact, The Gambia is said to have the highest electricity tariff in the region. Where is the value for the customers� money, Mr NAWEC? How can you keep increasing the cost of electricity when your services remain poor? " Related: http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11282 http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11269
toubab1020	Posted - 19 Jun 2012 : 14:43:08 Lets hope that this money will get the promised power to the people and that everybody pays using cashpower meters only and that any new equipment is looked after by FULLY trained and reliable operators and that "maintenance" is first class.AND EVERYBODY PAYS IN FUTURE. and those who have not paid in the past are pursued vigorously until they pay what they owe.. http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/ofid-approves-over-us60m-for-gambia-others "A US$12 million project will be used to upstage the Kotu Power Station in The Gambia with a view to providing populations, particularly unconnected communities, with an affordable and consistent supply of electrical power. " The D.O. is first with this news although it is tucked away a bit,maybe giving the impression by the headline,"OFID approves over US$60M for Gambia, others" , that Gambia was the main beneficiary of the US$60M,cynical ? me of course not its just a matter of journalistic licence by the D.O.
toubab1020	Posted - 01 Jun 2012 : 22:46:00 OK folks, we need some more Ds ! http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/electricity-water-tariff-increase-starts-today "While many consumers have described the move as unjustifiable, NAWEC on the other hand said its last tariffs increase of 31% was not sufficient to sustain their operational obligations due to rising cost of inputs such as fuel, lubricants, and spare parts." (outstanding unpaid bills to NAWEC ?)
toubab1020	Posted - 25 May 2012 : 03:28:01 Kobo,well picked up,NAWEC is in a very difficult position,being owed VAST amounts of money from BIG USERS,who think that because they are so big just do not pay knowing full well that everything will be "lost" or "mislaid" "they" will never pay,Brikama council if memory serves me right have made SOME contribution to their debt,the rest nothing, I find it very difficult to blame NAWEC for the electricity problem,how can they manage to run a company on just thin air and no money. quote: Originally posted by kobo THE POINT NEWS EDITORIAL NAWEC again!
kobo	Posted - 24 May 2012 : 01:27:20 THE POINT NEWS EDITORIAL NAWEC again!

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